Mind control has always been one of humanity's key dreams. Devices enabling communication and control by means of human thoughts no longer belong only to the world of science fiction, but to the current reality, which has enormous business potential.
Mind control has always been one of humanity’s key dreams. Devices enabling communication and control by means of human thoughts no longer belong only to the world of science fiction, but to the current reality, which has enormous business potential.
What is the Brain-Computer Interface?
The turn of the 20th and 21st century brought about the development of diagnostics and therapeutic methods based on digital electronics systems and feedback occurring at brain-computer interfaces. These interfaces work on the same basis as an EEG examination performed in a hospital using an electroencephalograph. As can be seen in the graphics below, the construction of the device itself is not complicated.
How does the brain-computer interface work?
More technical readers and enthusiasts of new technologies are invited to get acquainted with the design and operation diagram of the EEG electroencephalograph.
Etap I
We start by attaching measuring electrodes to the surface of your head. The potential value recorded by subsequent electrodes is measured against the reference electrode
Etap II
In the next step the signal goes through operational amplifiers and then it goes to a low-pass filter. Using this filter, unfavourable values of frequency components are eliminated.
Etap III
Then, using an analogue-to-digital converter, the signal is converted from an analogue form to a discrete form.
Etap IV
By means of a high-pass filter and a network filter, the interference arising at the border between the skin and electrode is eliminated. The mains filter additionally removes disturbances connected with the electrical network.
Etap V
The result is a signal with the following characteristics.
Application of BCI technology (brain-computer interfaces)
Medicine – BCI hope for disabled people
Thanks to communicators constructed on the basis of BCI technology, physically disabled people are able to communicate with the environment without the use of the motion apparatus or speech centre.
There are also wheelchairs made, thanks to which the disabled person is able to control their position in space at a certain speed and direction of movement.
Neuromarketing – BCI as a source of effective advertising campaigns
BCI technology provides the marketing industry with an invaluable source of reliable knowledge, enabling it to measure the attention of brain activity during interaction with a given advertisement, both commercial and political.
Moreover, on the basis of this technology it is possible to estimate the degree of memory of a given advertisement and the type of emotional state that accompanied the recipient during its broadcast.
Entertainment of the future with BCI
The concepts of combining the functions of games with the possibilities of control using the brain have been the subject of many studies aimed at providing a new dimension to gameplay. Today it is already possible to use the mind to play and even to play with several minds at once.
In a game called BrainArena, players can join a football match in which goals are scored by imagining the movement of the left or right hand.
Games based on BCI technology are also used in neuroprostatic rehabilitation (prosthesis of the nervous system).
BraiBall is an example of a game between entertainment and medicine. Users of the system control the ball by increasing their level of relaxation. In this way, a player who shows more calmness during the game will ultimately increase control over stress in both professional and private life.
Human resources management and increased company profits
Brain-computer technology is also used in industries related to security and human resources in its broadest sense.
In China, a system for monitoring emotional states was created on the basis of BCI. Artificial intelligence systems can detect emotional states of employees such as depression, anxiety or anger. On the basis of this information, managers can decide whether a given sales representative on a given day is suitable for difficult and crucial negotiations for business.
Biometrics, banking, security
Because every human mind, on a given stimulus, generates a different electrical characteristic, the signal coming from the brain is a unique phenomenon. This feature allows it to be used in biometric systems in order to gain access to the source medium.
Based on BCI and Machine Learning technology, systems of a modern way of user verification are created, used when logging on to various types of systems. Moreover, it is possible to extend the functionality of the systems with the security related to the aforementioned verification of the stress of the logging person. Let us remember that this stress can be generated by third parties, so it is an important protection against harmful intrusions.
