Electric Wheelchair Future Technology

This is part 2 of brain controlled assistive devices future…

In first part of the article, we already reviewed the Cyberlink Brainfingers device, and this is the continuation of the article, covering the other two products on market…

The notion of using brain activity to interact with devices isn't new. A number of schools–such as the University of Minnesota; University of California, San Diego; and Purdue–have research labs devoted to decoding thoughts from the brain and manipulating cursors on a screen, which is especially useful for disabled people. In addition, companies have cropped up in the past couple of years claiming to offer an effective brain-computer interface for video games or for biofeedback purposes. For instance, S.M.A.R.T. BrainGames, a company based in San Marcos, CA, sells EEG caps designed to treat people with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder…

The offerings

2. Emotiv

Emotiv Systems is an Australian-American company with seat in San Francisco made bold announcements regarding brain control interface for gamers at last month's GDC. . . Their system is designed around an electro-encephalograph (EEG) cap with 12 integrated sensors, and they started selling the helmet-based sensor device along with SDK or EDK(Emotiv Developer Kit) as they call it, to games developers, and all interested parties.

How it works? The human brain contains around 100 billions nerve cells, the neurons, they have an electrical activity that can be monitored using electroencephalography (EEG). The brain computer interface technology observes an individual’s brain activity and process it, so that thoughts and emotions can be integrated to an application.

Emotiv Technology could be applied to other industries, including interactive television, medicine, and security. One of his four founders, Allan Snyder, is an internationally recognized scientist, inventor of the theory behind optical fiber and a winner of numerous awards, medals and fellowships, including the 2001 Marconi International Prize.

Emotiv technology, it is the first brain computer interface that can detect human conscious thoughts and non-conscious emotions, including those represented by brain activity patterns unique to a particular individual.

Emotiv's system has three different applications. One is designed to sense facial expressions such as winks, grimaces, and smiles, second detects two emotional states, such as excitement and calm, and third, the one most useful for disabled, and application on accessibility devices can detect a handful of conscious intentions that can be used to guide devices to push, pull, rotate, and lift…

Usage

To use Emotiv's system, a person puts on the EEG cap and adjusts it to her head, making sure that most of the sensors touch the scalp. The system automatically picks up blinks and emotional states. However, in order to start using device, user must first go through a series of training sessions in which she concentrates for about 10 seconds on mentally moving the box on computer screen. Emotiv's representative says that there is a large amount of machine learning built into the software, so the more a person concentrates on a specific task, the more precisely the system follows the mental instructions.

Since Emotiv's technology is currently patent pending, the company will not disclose the details of its system. The sensors are also said to be able to detect emotions such as fear and excitement.

Meanwhile, a German company has unveiled an interface to allow users to compose messages on their personal computers and play simple games using only their brains. The Guger Technologies device works along similar lines to the Emotiv system, monitoring brain activity.

Also under development is a thought-controlled robotic wheelchair that would allow paralyzed people to move freely through their environments.

Drawbacks

In vicinity of user, there might be other electrical signals that are stronger, however, and Emotiv's system could be detecting such signals in order to move virtual objects, says Alan Gevins, executive director of the San Francisco Brain Research Institute and president of SAM Technology. For instance, the electrical potential produced at the scalp from eye movements and facial and scalp muscles are at least 15 times stronger than those produced by activity in the brain. It is possible that when a person concentrates on pushing, lifting, or turning a virtual object, his or her eyes, jaw, head, or tongue move in a characteristic way, Gevins says. But the fact that there is still much work to be done in EEG research in general leads Gevins to be skeptical of new consumer products. "You need not only advances in sensor technology, but also in application-specific signal analysis and, most importantly, [in] understanding which brain signals relate to thinking«.

While there still may be work to be done, Emotiv is betting that its technology is good enough for prime time, and it plans to make the system available to the general public in 2008. The question of whether or not Emotiv's technology will be a successful commercial product remains to be answered. Using the power of concentration to move virtual objects may have a novelty factor, but it is a slow and an unnatural way to manipulate objects in many gaming scenarios. Also, in order for Emotiv's system to work, the sensors on the cap must maintain contact with the scalp, which means that head and body movements should be kept to a minimum. Taking it out in the real world, Gevins says, could be difficult. "It doesn't do anyone any good to bring something out of the lab prematurely," he says.

www.emotiv.com

3. g-TEC g.BCIsys ecosystem

At CeBit Austrian company Guger Technologies showed their device named g.BCIsys. Austrian medical and electrical engineering firm Guger Technologies has become the first company to ship a commercial product for controlling computers with thoughts.

Although device looks less elegant and much more complex than OCZ's prototype, its sensors are much more advanced, as device uses mesh of electrodes and sensors positioned on a helmet-like cap. But g.BCIsys works, and award from EICT ( European information communication technology) at this march's CeBit confirms this. Device and its software allows user to move mouse pointer on screen, and also choose letters and navigate through 3D labyrinth. G.BCIsys is intended for people with paralysis, allowing them to communicate with outside world. Pricing information on g.BCIsys is now yet known.

Derivate of the project is available under name g.MOBIlab, and it is a combination of PocketPC and standalone pocket BCI module, designed to be fit on a electric wheelchair or in home appliances.

The company's Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) kit works on the premise of detecting mental activity via electrophysiological signals, such as electroencephalogram (EEG) or electrocardiogram (ECoG) impulses, and translating them into a control signal. In this way, brain signals can be used for data entry or to move a cursor on a computer monitor.

Controlling devices via brainwaves has long been a staple of science fiction, and while it continues to fuel the imagination, the company points out that there are also many practical uses. One of the primary goals of the effort, which was awarded the European Information and Communication Technology (ICT) 2007 Grand Prize during this week's CeBIT trade show in Germany, is to enable completely paralyzed patients to communicate and interact with their environment.

The g.BCIsys BCI kit can be used with a standard Windows PC, or a Windows Mobile Platform device when paired with a lightweight biosignal recording system called g.MOBIlab. In either case, EEG processing, analysis and pattern recognition can be used to perform rudimentary tasks such as spelling and message composition, or to control a computer game. EEG data is gleaned from a sensor-studded cap, or from direct implants in the brain.
 
Several research projects involving the g.BCIsys system have been conducted, including scenarios where test subjects used the device to successfully select letters and words, or to control a wheelchair or prosthetic device. The company's BCI technology was also used in the European Community research project “PRESENCCIA”  in which participants were able to navigate through a complex virtual environment using only their thoughts. The experiments were conducted in a highly immersive stereo projection environment called the “CAVE,” at University College in London.

Guger has not publicly announced pricing for the BCI system. The company is a technology supplier to research institutions, government agencies such as NASA, and major manufacturers such as Nokia, Merck, and Sony… Read more on company on their webpage.

This is end of PART 2, check back for PART 3 next week, when we see what other alternatives are out there, and when the pricing will drop down to be affordable for broad range of accessible devices…