Brain-Computer Interfaces:Where Human and Machine Meet

Sixto Ortiz Jr.
For a long time, researchers have been working on a marriage of human and machine that sounds like something out of science fiction: a brain-computer interface.
BCIs read electrical signals or other manifestations of brain activity and translate them into a digital form that computers can understand, process, and convert into actions of some kind, such as moving a cursor or turning on a TV.
Several academic and corporate researchers are now working to commercialize the technology, while other projects are taking innovative approaches to BCIs that could create interesting products or services in the not-too-distant future.
The technology holds great promise for people who can’t use their arms or hands normally because they have had spinal cord injuries or suffer from conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or cerebral palsy. BCI could help them control computers, wheelchairs, televisions, or other devices with brain activity.
There is even a research effort underway to use BCI as the basis for brainwave-based biometric authentication. The reaction of users’ brains to a stimulus of some sort would determine whether they could, for example, access a computer or enter a building.
Thus, BCI has generated interest as an approach that could yield revenue in the marketplace.
However, the technology has a long way to go before it can be used widely, as it still faces problems such as user acceptance and signal accuracy.
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