Online Reflection: Mind-reading headset

Moving and object just by thinking? It seems such action is only our fantasy imaginations that appear in science fictions. However, it may come true very soon as NeuroSky, a well-known brain-computer interface (BCI) firm in California, has brought us a good news－MindWave, the latest mind-reading device, has been invented.

It is a lightweight headset with a single electroencephalogram (EEG) senor which is originally designed for playing video games. Users can wear it across their foreheads to start reading their thoughts by detecting the strength of their beta and alpha brainwaves, which correspond to their attention and relaxation level, and transmits them wirelessly to the laptop in order to control the characters in the game. MindWave used in video games in the first step to launch the public. According to NeuroSky, the MindWave headset is released as a standalone device for other potential partners to develop for. For example, the mind-reading senor may integrated in car seats in the future, that people can drive without moving a muscle, but only their thoughts! It seems quite amazing and impossible, however, G. Tec Medical Engineering, another brain-computer interface firm in Austria, has developed the Intendix for medical used in the early stage. Though the system used in the Intendix and the MindWave is the same, they are different from each other. The Intendix is a brain-control spectrum with the system that only allow people with limited motor functions to type by using thought alone, and it is not as convenient as the MindWave because of its complicated set up. Before using the Intendix, users have to put on the full skullcap, which its electrodes are filled with conductive gel and connected to a control box for contacting the skin, and take some time to train the software to read the mind. After all the settings have been done, words will be accurately type out according to your concentration without using a finger, but your brain! It is really beneficial to those people who cannot speak and write as it opens a window for them to communicate with the world.

Either the Intendix or the MindWave, the development of BCI system and the invention of mind-reading devices will bring us into the ‘Cyborg World’, which is Utopia-alike, more completely. We can see how wonderful if the ‘Cyborg World’ would be. In this world, we all are cyborgs and nothing becomes impossible. We can only concentrate our minds to control and do things in an easy way without any difficulties by putting on the mind-reading device. There is no discrimination, no inequality, as everyone is the same with the same ability. However, all the above are only our beautiful imaginations and optimistic expectations. No one knows how the ‘Cyborg World’ would be. But one thing can be sure, we are human, not robots, because of our different characteristics. If we all turn into a cyborg, whose appearance and ability is the same, can we still be who we are? This is the question we should think about.

Reference: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20375-trying-on-the-headsets-that-can-read-your-mind.html

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