From: Neil Scott <ngscott@arch.stanford.edu>
The "bioLink" device we have came from a company that spun out of Wright
Patterson Air force research labs. I visited the Wright Patt lab and
saw the system you mentioned. It was very slow and tedious -- several
seconds per switching event. But like all things, it can only get
better. There is a limit to what can be achieved from external
electrodes but, if a person accepts the idea of implanted electrodes,
there is a very high chance that we can have wide bandwidth inputs and
outputs. The latest cochlea implants, for example process 100,000
samples per second and deliver high fidelity sound to the implantee.
There is a lot of progress in bio/silicon interfaces. Some researchers
here at stanford have developed a chip that is bio compatible on one
side and standard silicon on the other. This type of device is being
developed for applications such as splicing broken nerve bundles back
together. Neurons grow into conical holes in the bio coating on each
side of the chip and a programmable layer in the middle is progressively
programmed to match the nerve endings together in the correct order --
rather like a field programmable logic array.
Another example of bio implanting that is possible now is to implant a
tiny piece of metal in the surface of the eyeball. The position of this
speck can be continually monitored by a pair of orthogonal coils or
micro impulse radar and we have the basis of a perfect eye tracking
system. This type of measurement is routine for medical research and I
have been assured by medical people that it can be absolutely safe. So,
as long as we have GUI interfaces, maybe we should have an implanted
pointing device.
Typing is basically a low bandwidth exercise. With only seven reliable
switching channels (7 neurons we can fire voluntarily) we can perform
all the functions of a conventional keyboard. It is conceivable that
extremely high frequency RF could be used to monitor 7 neurons reliably
-- we need to get some funding to find out. -- The micro impulse radar
(MIR) developed at Lawrence Livermore Labs can see tiny movements of
internal body parts such as vocal chords so it may be possible to see
tiny muscle movements triggered by small nerve impulses rather than the
nerve impulse itself.
By the way, the MIR has been used to build a non acoustic speech
recognition system -- movements of the vocal chords, tongue and jaw are
monitored -- long way to go before it replaces a microphone but it has
the potential for working in noisy environments.
I have a friend in Virginia who has made a non-contact throat microphone
that monitors the movement of the skin on the front of the throat using
the laser mechanism out of a CD replay unit. -- also works in noisy
environments.
As for Moore's Law, we are going to see fantastic developments from
implanted devices in the next few years. Retinal implants with Gigaflop
computing capabilities are being developed now and will provide instant
object and face recognition for blind people. I'm not blind but I
desperately need one of these to remember all the people I meet....
Neil Scott
Archimedes
Jon Winters wrote:
>
> From: Jon Winters <winters@obscurasite.com>
>
> Neil Scott wrote:
>
> <snip>
> > looked at emg signals as a possible source of inputs but it is difficult
> > to separate the wanted signals from the noise.
> >
> <snip>
> > more about the human movements, we plan to take another look at
> > electrical signals (EMG) and video pickup.
>
> I've seen a documentary or too with the USAF working on a system that
> allows for a pilot to 'fly by thought' in a simulator. Things seemed to
> be in a very research and development mode and they stressed that a
> great amount of training is involved.
>
> Do you we will see a practical thought input device during my lifetime?
> I can think of many different situations where this would come in
> handy. (wearable computers, workplace environments that need both
> hands, people with disabilities) Seems like it would also solve problems
> like repetitive stress and tendon injuries.
>
> Will Moore's law and faster computers help overcome the signal to noise
> problem?
> My wife would appriciate me 'thinking' commands into my computer... it
> makes a lot less noise than a keyboard or voice recognition.
> --
> Jon Winters http://www.obscurasite.com/jon/
>
> "Everybody Loves The GIMP!"
> http://www.gimp.org/
>
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