Honda Research Institute and Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute have co-developed a brain machine interface (BMI) system that allows a person to control a robot through thought alone.
The system builds on previous work announced three years ago towards a possible future where devices can be controlled by thought. In 2006 Honda and ATR researchers managed to get a robotic hand to move by analyzing brain activity using a large MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner like that found in hospitals.
The latest work is a step more advanced and measures the electrical activity in a person’s brain using electroencephalography (EEG) and blood flow within the brain using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to produce data that is then interpreted into control information. It requires no physical movement.
Check out this video that shows the technology in action.
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