B.a.m. Software Brain as Mouse

[BooZker 0]

As i was writing my bottomless drink topic i thought of a totally new idea! Ready? How about never using a mouse again and just using your brain? Now you might say how? You might also say, that is not possible because we can understand brain waves. This is a little different though. As in a lie detector tests it doesnt actually KNOW when you are lying it takes everything about you body into consideration. OK so how does this work if you want to move your mouse to the right and click on a folder named My Pictures?Everytime you think about going to the right you looking at where you want to go, well unless your blind, and so this software would pick up your brain signal that means right. It wouldnt be that hard for it to figure out right and left up and down. And then clicking on my pictures. You would go though a set up proces for the main folders on your computer. It would have you look, read, and, think about the folder. Not just the name, but the contents also. After it does this for some it starts to learn more about you. Then if you want to create a new folder you would create one as normal, but after you named it it would ask you to look, read, and think about that folder and the contents you want in it. After awhile this would become much faster then a mouse. Think about it... litteraly, as fast as you can think the mouse moves. Your guys's thoughts?

[jlhaslip 4]

Isn't there already an assist device for those not able to move their hands properly? I seem to think there is a device which uses a light of some sort to track your eye movements and blinking is like a mouse click? or something like that.

[BooZker 0]

Well its not purely on the eye though. That is just one factor.

[Plenoptic 0]

I actually have already read an article related to this last year. They already have something they are working on that does exactly what you just explained. They are in the testing stages. Last I heard they had it to the point where you can check your email just by thinking of where you want the mouse to go. It's really a rather neat concept. It was sort of challenging for them to get used to it at first but then you start to get the hang of it. Of course you have to have wired hooked up from your head to a computer though which I think is pointless unless they can make wireless sensors which they probably do. I'll see if I can find you the article.

[BooZker 0]

Plenoptic seriously? That would be awesome. Your right about the wires stuck to you head. That would look way to weird and it would be a pain in the *bottom* to put on. That's why i would make all the wires inside of a hat or beanie so it looks like your just wearing a hat. Of course this would be close to impossible, but this is the Ideas and innovations forum! Anything is possible here.

[laforgej 0]

I have been doing some work with a guy who is a quadriplegic (completely paralyzed from the neck down). He operates his computer with a metallic dot on his forehead and a piece of hardware on top of the monitor that uses some form of light to track the dots position on the screen. As he moves his head, the mouse pointer is moved. To click on something all he has to click on something is hold the mouse on spot for 1/2 a second. There are a series of clicking options on the screen including left mouse, right mouse, double click(left), click and drag(left or right). Most of the time he uses the on-screen keyboard but there is also voice recognition on his computer.It's not exactly brain waves but it is hands free.

[runeps 0]

I heard of the idea of eye as a mouse but never brain. It would help people who had problems with mobility and or had eye problems. It would also help if the brain had an installed chip like a monitor. That is what I think on the subject in question

[tractor 0]

Isn't there already an assist device for those not able to move their hands properly? I seem to think there is a device which uses a light of some sort to track your eye movements and blinking is like a mouse click? or something like that.

Thats cool,

I have been doing some work with a guy who is a quadriplegic (completely paralyzed from the neck down). He operates his computer with a metallic dot on his forehead and a piece of hardware on top of the monitor that uses some form of light to track the dots position on the screen. As he moves his head, the mouse pointer is moved. To click on something all he has to click on something is hold the mouse on spot for 1/2 a second. There are a series of clicking options on the screen including left mouse, right mouse, double click(left), click and drag(left or right). Most of the time he uses the on-screen keyboard but there is also voice recognition on his computer.
It's not exactly brain waves but it is hands free.

Well he must be very good at coordination. How does he move so smoothly?



My thoughts:

1. We could attach some kind of suction cups to your body like the do in a lie detector test that measures your brain waves. Almost like a CAT scan.

2. We could sense your movement with something implanted beneath your skin.

3. Um. DOn't go on the comp.

[BooZker 0]

The hardest thing about this would to make it practical. For even the most stupid computer users... like a mouse. The setup might be a real pain in the ***, but after that i think it would be even easier then a mouse. Once you get the hang out it it could be VERY fast.

[laforgej 0]

I was talking with a friend of mine(the quad who I mentioned earlier). For a while spinal cord research was greatly centered around stem cells, but these days they have a fair bit of this stuff in the research / development phase. He didn't know the details but it was was based on electrodes in your brain that would monitor brain activity. A computer mouse or motorized chair control are some of their ideas but if they refine it well enough it could possibly replace the keyboard. The whole problem is trying to decode what is going through the brain. I can't see this becoming something for normal able bodied people anytime soon.

[Forbez 0]

They've made this B.A.M. I saw it on the news ages back now. Where a guy who ahs been in a some state which he can't move or talk for like 10 years or something and can commucate with the rest of the world. He uses his mind to move a mouse which on the screen to select option. Real high tech stuff. He has a chip in his brain which commucates with this device and moves the mouse on screen for all to watch.

[BooZker 0]

Forbez where did you hear about this? Are you sure they put a chip in his head? I never knew they could connect things to your brain like that.

[salamangkero 0]

Forbez where did you hear about this? Are you sure they put a chip in his head? I never knew they could connect things to your brain like that.

I'm not sure about this brain as mouse chip but I do know that yes, our scientists have been able to connect to our brain. No, it's not like chips we'd just slide in. It's more like the Matrix's "plug me in" socket. I saw a feature on connecting a camera to a blind man's head so that he could see and yes, they did pull it off.

Again, yes, scientists can connect to the human brain, although in quite limited ways, of course

[adriantc 0]

I have just read in this month's computer magazine (CHIP) about this technology. It's not anything new and it sure isn't science-fiction. Some guys from a university in Germany have developed a helmet that tracks electrical currents in the users brain. After a few weeks of training (now only a few days because they say the system keeps improving) you can actually use brain activity as a mouse to do pretty complex moving.The technology has been around for years, but it was only used in selecting one object from multiple objects so it wasn't a complex movement in 2 Axes. I also read in that magazine that some guys from the USA are experimenting with a chip that they say will be implanted right in the users brain so it will have a direct link with it which will make response time lower... Bye, bye privacy...