Using Brain Power to Move Electronic Devices

By Desmond Wong


THINK about it.

Doing just that can make it easier for the physically disabled here to operate household devices. And yes, it's that easy.

The gadget that can do this is a mind-reading tool called the Brainy Communicator.


The device acts as an interface that reads the brain activity of a user through sensors in a cap.

This technology converts the user's thoughts into electronic activity that allows the user to manipulate electronic devices.

At its current stage of development, the Brainy Communicator can allow a user to type on a computer and manipulate the controls of a television set using only his thoughts, with an 80 per cent degree of accuracy.

This means that 80 per cent of the time, a thought is accurately translated into an electronic action, such as typing the letter A.

This technology is targeted at suffers of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, multiple-limb disability, cerebral palsy and other conditions that severly limit motor function.

This project is the brainwave of the Community Research Network (CRN), a division of the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD).

Mr Zen Toh, head of the CRN project, noted this illustrates the often-quoted phrase 'necessity is the mother of invention.'

'We were once offered a wheel chair that was combined with a bicycle to create a trishaw-type device to help the disabled get around with a helper.

'But from our experience, any disabled individual with motor ability would want to propel himself with his arms and those who can't would prefer a motorised wheel chair for more control.'

The SPD realised that it needed a body that could be part of the research process itself to ensure the product would be effective and practical.

And so the CRN was born.

'We realised that we needed the expertise of the CRN to understand the needs of the end-users of this technology,' said Dr Guan Cuntai, lead scientist of the Brainy Communicator project.

The Brainy Communicator team from the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) linked up with the SPD last September and worked with the CRN to win a Samsung DigitAll Hope research grant two months later.

'Now the CRN is literally part of the research team,' said Dr Guan.

With the technical know-how of the team from I2R and the knowledge on physical disabilities from the SPD, the Brainy Communicator project has taken off.

The technology is already capable of reading brain activity with an accuracy of 80 per cent.

'This difference in the working relationship with research groups and the SPD is a step in the right direction for the development of effective aid devices for the disabled,' explained Mr Toh.

'The transactional relationship of buyer and seller has changed into something in which both parties are fully involved in the development of the product, which will do a lot for pioneering assistance technology in Singapore.'

With the CNR getting up close with the research, the physically disabled here can expect more devices that they can really use.


SOURCE: Electric Tech

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