Patients with ALS control the wheelchair with the mind Spain (Málaga)
A group of researchers from the University of Málaga has developed a novel interaction system based on the recording of brain activity, so you can control any device. Ricardo
Ron, head of the project of excellence of the Board of Andalusia says that the user need only place a cap with electrodes that are responsible for measuring the mental task to communicate and obtain the signals the brain to a decision, which is transmitted by the computer using a voice system, so that the patient runs the direction that most interests you.
To this end, essential to carry out a training in which the disabled person repeat, with the help of a psychologist, one action for several times and, thus, learn to control encephalographic signals.
Thus, the subject has the ability to "see" what happens inside the brain, a process known as "feedback", also highlighted the professor of Electronic Technology.
One objective of this technique, called Brain Computer Interface (BIC), is to facilitate the training needs, for which the research team has also developed different virtual environments in three dimensions whose visualization requires stereoscopic glasses.
However, mastering the mind is not an easy task, since it can influence factors such as fatigue, motivation and stress, making it necessary to find algorithms that discriminate between altered and the signal produced by my own brain .
This channel of communication and control has been so far used by students of the School of Informatics and Telecommunications, who have proven through experiments with a small robot to master the mind can break down the barriers that many people when travel.
The project also offers other applications, including flying a plane in a video game or driving a car only with the mind-as directed by the computer-something that, as Ron pointed Ricardo, can be a fun and interesting.
patients amyotrophic lateral sclerosis can move his wheelchair to the brain
As future prospects, the investigator has told Efe its intention to design a virtual keyboard with a high bandwidth, allowing the disabled write words at a higher speed applications that currently exist.
