The brain-computer interface is squared
For the first time, brain-to-brain communication via the Internet has been carried out
membranaThe British have shown in practice that one brain can be connected to another via a network so that they will interact with one "power of thought".
An unusual experiment was conducted by a group of scientists led by Christopher James from the University of Southampton.
The new development is a further step in a series of studies in different countries, united by the theme of the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). Researchers have repeatedly demonstrated that with the help of computer analysis of brain activity, it is possible to "directly" connect a person's brain with a wheelchair, an android robot or a manipulator.
Now James and his colleagues have come to a new version of this technology – Brain–to-Brain communication (Brain-to–Brain - B2B). And although it is not even close to transmitting mental texts of speech to each other via the Internet, it is still in some way an exchange of mental information, even if scientists have managed to transfer only four bits from brain to brain so far. The experiment took place within the framework of the large Southampton BCI Research program, one of the leaders and leading specialists of which is Christopher.
The chain worked as follows. The sender (in the diagram on the left) looked at the display, where he saw 0 and 1 at the edges of the screen. He had to mentally choose one of the numbers, only imagining that he was moving his left (0) or right (1) hand. A set of electrodes on the head (an EEG signal amplifier) perceived brain waves, which the computer decoded and determined a person's choice.
Then through the Network (lightning in the center of the circuit) this information was sent to the addressee (on the right). At the other end of the line, the computer turned 0 or 1 into a series of rapid flashes of an LED strobe light. Their frequency depended on the transmitted number.
The recipient was looking at these flashes, and at this time the EEG amplifier on his head was reading brain waves associated with visual activity. Using these signals, another computer could accurately find out whether a binary one or a zero was transmitted, and display them on its screen.
After the first digit in the message was determined, the sender began to think about the second digit. So the message "1011" was transmitted.
It is important to note that the "recipient" himself, looking at the strobe light, could not consciously distinguish the encrypted 0 from 1, for his eyes all the flashes were identical. If it were otherwise, it would be possible not to complicate the experience, but simply to immediately show on the screen the numbers transmitted to the first test subjects. But in this case, the experiment would be no different from the existing BCI interfaces. And since the recipient's brain was literally embedded in the data transmission chain, the British got the right to declare the creation of the first B2B interface.
The experiment itself took place back in May, but only now the university has published the details of the experiment in its press release. "We have yet to realize all the consequences of this, but there are various scenarios where B2B could be useful," says James, "for example, it can help (move and communicate) people with serious muscle loss or patients with the so–called closure syndrome, and can also be used for games." Here is a record of that very experience.
And in the next video you can see how Christopher James "reads the thoughts" of the famous TV journalist and presenter James May.
Source: Gizmag, Brain-to-brain communication over the InternetPortal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru