This is the stuff that science fiction is made of. Just think of a command, and an electronic gadget will execute it for. Need to open the garage door? Just think it. How about moving an object? Think it.
This is what the people over at Honda are working on. Japan Today has a story on it:
Honda Motor Co has developed a way to read patterns of electric currents on a person’s scalp as well as changes in cerebral blood flow when a person thinks about four simple movements – moving the right hand, moving the left hand, running and eating.
Honda succeeded in analyzing such thought patterns, and then relaying them as wireless commands for Asimo, its human-shaped robot.
In a video shown Tuesday at Tokyo headquarters, a person wearing a helmet sat still but thought about moving his right hand; the �thought that was picked up by cords attached to his head inside the helmet. After several seconds, Asimo, programmed to respond to brain signals, lifted its right arm.
I am sure that you still remember Asimo, the human robot that we have been seeing a lot. There are some issues with the technology, however. For one, thought patterns are different for each person. As such, the electrical signals emanating from one person’s scalp may differ. This would mean calibrating the device for each single user.
Still, this is a very good start to what we used to think would be only seen in movies and books, don’t you think?