Advances in brain-machine interfaces

400px-BrainGate Okay, technically your typing fingers are already brain-machine interfaces, but they’re rather clumsy ones, especially if you’re not a great typist. Wouldn’t it be easier to just think at your computer to get it to do what you want it to do? (Via ScienceDaily.)

Well, as this fascinating overview of the state of the art makes clear, it’s coming. The lede:

Neuroscientists have significantly advanced brain-machine interface (BMI) technology to the point where severely handicapped people who cannot contract even one leg or arm muscle now can independently compose and send e-mails and operate a TV in their homes. They are using only their thoughts to execute these actions.

Read, as they say, the whole thing. (Photo from Wikipedia.)

[tags]brain, computer, technology[/tags]