The Computer That Can Read Your Mind 145
magacious writes "Gtec has showcased a computer that can read your mind over at the CeBIT trade show in Germany. Designed primarily to help those who can't write or speak, the system makes use of a skull cap and wireless technology to transform brain waves into letters. It's the first patient-ready computer-brain interface, according to its Austrian makers. It takes around 30 seconds per letter for the computer to recognise what you're saying the first time you use it, according to Gtec, but this improves vastly with practice. '"One second per letter is very tough," Gtec's Engelbert Grunbacher said, adding users can usually easily get to five or 10 letters per minute. "You learn to be relaxed, focused. You improve."' It might look quite wacky (pictures here) and at €9,000 the system is not cheap, but it could help enhance the lives of many people who have a great deal to say but no real way of saying it."
Ewww! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Mind reading (Score:2, Informative)
Spare us the gritty details...
Not as hot as Marie-Josee Croze (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401383/ [imdb.com]
But probably more useful for locked in syndrome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked_in_syndrome [wikipedia.org]
However real mind reading is still "50 years away" (Score:4, Informative)
I worked with a student on a similar Brain-Computer-Interface to what appears to be shown here. In actuality, the interface barely reads your mind at all, the grid of letters you see flashes while you focus on the letter you want to type. When that letter flashes, your brain registers this, and your 'surprise' at seeing the flash is what's measured. Knowing the time that this happened, it is possible to eventually deduce what letter on the grid the patient is focusing on.
So as you can see, "Computer that can read your mind" is a rather sensationalist article title to say the least. It's also a massive pain in the ass to try to use a device like this, you literally have to focus on the letter you want to type and absolutely nothing else, or it'll take longer and longer to determine what letter you are 'typing'.