Brain electrodes help patients play video games

[Gryph]

http://www.jsonline.com/alive/news/dec04/281287.asp

Very very interesting stuff. It seems that some people at the University of Wisconsin at Madison (awesome school for research) have been able to able to control a simple game just by thinking about it. While this is cool for the gaming aspect, this could be especially more important in medical field application. Here's a little snipett:

 

http://www.jsonline.com/alive/news/dec04/281287.asp[/url]']With electrodes implanted directly on their brains, two Madison patients were able to control a computer cursor and play a basic video game just by thinking about it.

 

The accomplishment highlights an amazing new technology that in the last year has created the distinct possibility that severely disabled people may soon be able to communicate and even regain movement by tapping directly into the brain and training it to bypass damaged nerve cells.

[random guy]

Weren't Nintendo trying to make a controller like that for the NES?

Oh wait, here it is: http://www.nesworld.com/handfree.htm

It was meant to be controlled with your mouth.

[Weirdy]

....ohh man, the possibilities

 

with all the conservatism in the u.s gov. atm, I seriously doubt this will be released here

 

or at least not the jap version where they'll probably make hentai games or something

[Diso]

thats pretty cool but kind of cheap. I think pressing buttons would be faster than a thinking person would so that might be a small disadvantage.

[random guy]

thats pretty cool but kind of cheap. I think pressing buttons would be faster than a thinking person would so that might be a small disadvantage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, pressing buttons by just thinking about what to do would be quicker than pressing buttons with your fingers. Because when you press a button with your fingers, your brain has to think about what button to push, then the impulse has to travel all the way down to your fingers so you press that button. Doing it with your mind would be much faster.

[OverlordMondo]

This is awesome. I hope this evolves into more powerful technology. I'm seeing Shadowrun style datajacks in the future! (Far future?)

[Sybarite Paladin AxL]

that will be the day... when I'm gonna need wires to play games

seriously I rather develop this skill myself than with the help of technology! the only thing I use while playing are my vision glasses so I don't flock my seeing

[darkmage479]

That's cool - i wonder where they found the human subjects, because they had already tried it with animals (researchers - probably at Madison - got pigs to play simple games both with a joystick and their minds) but it seems complex. From what i remember of psychobiology the motor cortex and its functions can vary from person to person, so where do the electrodes go?

[Ryuken]

maybe they can use this in wars?? like control their robots

[Gryph]

maybe they can use this in wars?? like control their robots

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Sadly that will happen. Every technology will go towards war.

[Ryuken]

they should invent something to fight aleins that would not destory our resouces