Link to audio file (26:36), or listen on iTunes

In this interview TechEmergence talks to Dr. Christoph Guger, founder of gTec, a company that focuses on creating devices and parts for the field of brain-machine interface. Guger shares with us the direction and progress of brain-machine interface, as well as explaining the concept of “embodiment,” where a person truly “feels” that a device controlled by their thoughts is a part of themselves, and extension of themselves. Where might these technologies make their jump into the mainstream? Listen to Christoph’s interview here.

Image credit: gtec.at

Link to audio file (23:28), or  listen on iTunes

In this interview, TechEmergence talks to Dr. Beata Jarosiewicz from Brown’s BrainGate project about the science of making sense of the brain’s inner electrical activity, and how the brain might be used to control a variety of devices if calibrated correctly. 

Researchers at BrainGate have given paralyzed patients the ability to move robotic arms and check emails with their thoughts alone – thanks to experimental neural implants in their motor cortex. Dr. Beata Jarosiewicz has been with BrainGate project for years, with a specific focus on interpreting neurological signals and turning them into actionable outputs.

The BrainGate Group is on the cutting edge of an emerging technology – brain-machine interfaces. Their advances have allowed individuals with extensive paralysis and locked-in syndrome to interact with the world around them by controlling a computer mouse with their mind. Moving a mouse is something that most of us take for granted, but an individual with locked-in syndrome, that is fully awake and conscious, has no other means of producing speech, move limbs, or make facial movements.

Through a device implanted in the skull, the BrainGate device interfaces with a computer, allowing the individual to interact with their environment. This technology is made possible in part by extensive mapping of the neural activity of the brain, but revolutionary hardware designed by engineers like Bacher have also been key.

Bacher began working on the BrainGate technology by conducting brain-machine interface research on non-human primates. Or, as Bacher describes it, “basically having monkeys playing video games with their brains.” This research helped Bacher and other researchers understand how the brain works and begin development of the assistive technologies. When the opportunity to join the BrainGate group presented itself, Bacher jumped at the chance.

Says Bacher, “Although I’m interested in the basic neuroscience and love the pure technology aspects of it, thinking about how this translates to improve the quality of life for people in the real world has always been the underlying motivation for me.”

Outside of his work on BrainGate, Bacher is passionate about connecting disabled individuals with assistive technologies. This passion led Bacher to found the Speak Your Mind Foundation, which creates, distributes, and supports assistive communication technologies for individuals who are unable to effectively communicate due to neurological injury and disease. Says Bacher, “there is still a huge gape between technology creators and healthcare providers.” Bacher hopes to help bridge this gap and bring these technologies to the healthcare market.

Bacher’s approach also takes worldwide emerging technology trends in hands-free computing, robotics, and other areas, and finds ways to translate them into helping disabled individuals. Using technologies developed for larger markets helps lower the costs in developing applications for assistive technologies.  While the technological solutions are currently tailored for specific individuals involved in clinical trials, the solutions developed for them have potential applications for larger groups.

Says Bacher, “if we develop a piece of technology for someone with a spinal cord injury who is moving their head to control a computer, there’s no reason that can’t help someone whose suffered a stroke.”

Human-computer interface technology is still largely limited to touch, keyboard, and mouse. The research conducted by Bacher and those like him has the potential to change this, and as these technologies progress, their potential applications widen.

Says Bacher, “clearly, a mouse and a keyboard, even today seems like an antiquated way to interact with technology. We’ve seen developments like touch-screen technology and voice-control come along way, but it’s still not mainstream. In order to really penetrate the commercial marketplace, there’s a high threshold for how well something has to work.”

While current research is focused on assistive technologies for disabled individuals, the possible applications don’t end there. Part of the reason for this is the “symbiotic” relationship developing between consumer and assistive technologies. Smart phones can provide the “brains” for assistive devices. Eye motion-capture technologies developed for paralyzed individuals open up new ways for the general public to interact with technology, and hands free technologies benefit individuals without the use of their arms. Bacher believes that technologies like Google Glass, Leap Motion, Kinect, and voice-control will continue to be refined, and eventually make the “leap” to widespread consumer acceptance.

It’s a process Bacher believes benefits everyone; with the potential to open up avenues of technological interaction considered the realm of science fiction only a decade ago.

Guest talk in the ShanghAI Lectures, 2009-12-17

In this guest lecture, Hiroshi Yokoi from University of Electro-Communication, Chofu, Japan, talks about prosthetic robot hands, EMG devices, bio-feedback, and the Japanese trends in Brain-Machine Interfaces.

The ShanghAI Lectures are a videoconference-based lecture series on Embodied Intelligence, run and organized by Rolf Pfeifer (from 2009 till 2012), Fabio Bonsignorio (since 2013), and me with partners around the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sLB9ARwFNU

The ShanghAI Lectures have brought us a treasure trove of guest lectures by experts in robotics. You can find the whole series from 2012 here. Now, we’re bringing you the guest lectures you haven’t yet seen from previous years, starting with the first lectures from 2009 and releasing a new guest lecture every Thursday until all the series are complete. Enjoy!