[ExI] [Body Hacking] Re: [Open Manufacturing] Re: [Robotgroup] Alternative human keyboard interfaces

[Bryan Bishop]

On Sun, Jun 7, 2009 at 11:34 PM, Ben Floyd<dataplex at gmail.com> wrote:
> Not really on topic about actual hardware (since I don't know of any), but
> have any studies been done to watch the brain as someone types on a keyboard
> who has been typing for a very long time? Or perhaps performing a specific
> function (programming) while typing?

There have been fMRI studies of people looking at images plus
algorithms to figure out what the people are looking at. These hit the
news and people immediately called it "mind reading" (it wasn't really
mind reading). For transcriptional purposes, maybe it's sufficient?

> What I'm getting at is that I have been typing for over 12 years, with the
> keyboard easily memorized for at least 9 of those. I can type in my sleep
> practically, with or without keyboard. As another aside, I sometimes type
> out things on the desk if I'm angry about something but not in a position to
> say anything about it. I would like to see if they could match brain
> patterns to typing and convert those signals into a system that isn't
> visually operated by the brain but a direct reading of brain signals.

Here are some papers on the subject.

http://adl.serveftp.org/papers/kb/

> Do we have the technology available to scan the brain that quickly (sorry
> for my neophyte status on brain monitoring - I'm a programmer of computers,
> not biology)? And if we do, could a study be set up to do something like
> this? I imagine something where I meditate to clear my mind, and then I'm
> shown a series of characters (sentences, programming structures, etc) that I
> must type. I don't have a keyboard so I visualize in my mind the keyboard,
> or "type" it out on a desk or something. I think that actally having a
> keyboard may skew the results because of the brains need to handle force
> feedback, sounds, etc. Then with this information a customized monitor
> (helmet?) is attached that would allow me to type without a physical
> keyboard. It would send the same signals to a device as a qwerty keyboard.

That's like trying to type with a hammer.

- Bryan
http://heybryan.org/
1 512 203 0507