The devices with the mind | Computer technology

Despite the rapid development of electronics in the last few decades, there have been no changes in some respects since the first personal computer was introduced in the 1970s. System and finger operation to realize dual digital technology.  

However, an active area of ​​research in the brain-computer interface seeks to remove this dominance of the fingers so that we can manipulate the device according to our own thoughts. This technology is one of the hottest trends at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020 in Las Vegas this January. For example, the French company NextMind showed a leader connected to the head. This allows you to fix your eyes on a specific position on the screen and change the role of TV channels or mobile video games.

The jump is still in progress until the device is carefully controlled. This ensures that we will soon see new advances in this series.   You can use your mind to control your mobile phone, computer, car stereo, game console or IoT device. This is not a fool’s dream. An early EEG headband “Muse” has shown us the future application scenarios of EEG technology.

Strictly speaking, the Muse headband is currently only a wearable device used to monitor changes in brain waves, reduce stress and exercise thinking skills, but the future it shows is incalculable. It ’s not far from us to control electronic devices with our minds   Exercise or relax your brain The Muse headband looks a bit like a fashion accessory of the 1980s, and it is still quite easy and comfortable to wear.

Of course, if you wear it to go out, it will inevitably be an “attention ceremony” by passersby like Google Glass. The companion app for the Muse headband is called “Calm”, which is a mobile app that allows you to check the brain wave status anytime and anywhere, and use it to relax or exercise your brain.   The application looks intuitive and has an activity curve similar to brain waves, allowing you to see the state of your brain.

The relaxation function is similar to meditation, through a scene described by a gentle female voice, with deep breathing to achieve relaxation. Of course, you can also use the exercise type module to achieve the effect of strengthening the brain through some exercise thinking reaction problems. All data will be recorded in the application and form a chart so that you can understand the state of brain waves and the level of active thinking.  

Therefore, you don’t have to wear Muse in public at any time, just use it at home for a few minutes every day, it can play a certain role. At least in our tests, as the meditation deepened, the brain waves gradually entered a stable state, and the whole process felt very relaxed, and it was easier to concentrate on the work afterwards.  

The future of brainwave applications Obviously, Muse is only a primary brainwave device, but its manufacturing company InterAxon also has a bigger vision: let you control electronic devices with your mind. In the next step, InterAxon will cooperate with Panasonic to equip the car with an electroencephalogram vehicle system. If the Muse headset detects that the driver ’s brain wave is gradually going to sleep, it will issue a command to the vehicle system and call the seat vibration system Shake the user. In addition, it is also possible to turn on the wireless network by concentrating or play music in accordance with your own mood.  

Next, it is to set a “tag” for every idea in the brain, and give certain practical operations, such as “turn on the radio”. Of course, just like the early speech recognition software, users need to constantly calibrate to increase the recognition ability. The idea control based on brain waves also has this problem. It requires a lot of calibration and testing to achieve accurate results.   Brainwave technology also has great potential in the computer gaming field.

For example, in a first-person shooter game, when you start fighting, the spirit is often highly concentrated and adrenaline secreted. These changes can be used by brain wave technology. Finally, you can use your mind to control the movement or shooting of the character, in conjunction with virtual reality The display can obviously achieve the real virtual reality game effect.  

Of course, the brain wave technology still needs a long time to develop and improve, and finally realize the mind manipulation experience. But what is certain is that the brain wave technology and equipment are entering your life. In addition to the Muse headband, the motion monitoring equipment within the next 5 years is expected to be equipped with brain wave sensors; eventually, the mind control effect will be truly achieved within 15 to 20 years, and It will be integrated into services such as Apple Siri and Google Now, allowing you to control everything around you with your brain.