Tag Archives: eeg

Can’t Focus? Melon EEG Headband Gets Inside Your Head to Help You Concentrate

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Are your thoughts usually all over the place? Do you have difficulty keeping your thoughts at bay? Then you might need something like the Melon EEG headband to help you get your thoughts in order.

Spelled out, EEG stands for “electroencephalography”, which is the act of measuring brain activity along your scalp. This is basically what the Melon headband does when you wear it and go about your daily routine. Apart from just recording your brain activity, Melon’s special algorithms translates this data into a measure of focus.

Melon EEG

On its Kickstarter project page, the Melon wireless headband app is described as being “built to be worn while engaging in a variety of activities – from working, to studying, playing sports, dancing, practicing an instrument, programming, painting, or doing yoga.” The system boasts of turning focus into a “measurable” and “understandable” variable – something that I’m sure a lot of people would be interested in.

Aside from determining your level of focus, Melon also provides personalized feedback and insights on how its wearer can increase and improve his or her focus. It even offers suggestions for activities like origami to achieve that purpose.

The Melon headband and app is currently up for funding through June 13 on Kickstarter, where a minimum pledge of $99(USD) will get you one of your very own.

[via C|NET]

Soon, we will all be Professor X: researchers demo AR.Drone controlled by thought (video)

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Soon, we will all be Professor X researchers demo AR Drone controlled by thought video

Researchers from the University of Minnesota seem hellbent on turning us all into Professor X -- minus the hoverchair and Patrick Stewart-ly good looks, obviously. Why's that, you ask? Well, back in 2011, the team devised a method, using non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG), to allow test subjects to steer computer generated aircraft. Fast forward to today and that very same team has managed to translate their virtual work into real-world mind control over a quadrocopter. Using the same brain-computer interface technique, the team was able to successfully demonstrate full 3D control over an AR.Drone 1.0, using a video feed from its front-facing camera as a guide.

But it's not quite as simple as it sounds. Before mind-handling the drone, subjects underwent a training period that lasted about three months on average and utilized a bevy of virtual simulators to let them get acquainted with the nuances of mental navigation. If you're wondering just how exactly these human guinea pigs were able to fly a drone using thought alone, just imagine clenching your fists. That particular mental image was responsible for upward acceleration. Now imagine your left hand clenched alone... that'd cause it to move to the left; the same goes for using only the right. Get it? Good. Now, while we wait for this U. of Minnesota team to perfect its project (and make it more commercial), perhaps this faux-telekinetic toy can occupy your fancy.

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Via: SlashGear

Source: Journal of Neural Engineering

Samsung explores touchless tablet interaction with brainwave technology

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Samsung explores touchless tablet interaction with brainwave technology

Try and wrap this one around your noggin. Samsung is currently working with researchers at the University of Texas on a project involving EEG caps that harnesses the power of one's mind to control tablets and smartphones, and if that weren't enough, the company's actually hoping to take it mainstream. Now, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's be clear: in its current stage, the system is cumbersome and aimed at those with disabilities, but Samsung's already proven that it's interested in alternative input methods, and this could certainly be the logical conclusion.

As is, participants are asked to wear EEG caps that measure the electrical activity along their scalp. Then, they're able to make selections by focusing on an icon that flashes at a distinct frequency from others, which the system recognizes as a unique electrical pattern. Overall, the accuracy of the system is in the ballpark of 80 to 95 percent, and users are able to make selections on average of every five seconds. In order to make the system more approachable, the researchers hope to develop EEG hats that are more convenient and less intrusive -- in other words, ones that people can wear throughout the day. We can't promise this type of futuristic tech will come anytime soon, but for a closer peek, hit up the source link for a peek at Samsung's next wild idea.

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Via: BGR

Source: MIT Technology Review

Harvard lets human minds control rats, private rodent armies remain distant (video)

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Harvard links human and rat minds, Pied Piper no longer required

Sure, we've seen rats control other rats, but that won't give us a legion of mind-controlled creatures to unleash upon an innocent public, will it? Harvard Medical School may unwittingly assist with solving our (rather misguided) plight, as it just experimented with a system that lets a human mind trigger actions in a rat's motor cortex. The test had sensor-equipped humans watch a screen that flashed in sync with their EEG brain patterns for visual stimulation; as soon their attention shifted to controlling the rat, they triggered an ultrasonic pulse that twitched the rodent's tail. There's a few problems with the implementation beyond the obvious lack of autonomy for the poor target creature, though. The rat's anaesthetized state likely affected the results, and the system isn't currently sophisticated enough to map specific thoughts to corresponding actions. The Harvard team is working to refine the technology, however, and there may be a day when we can satisfy our megalomania... or at least, put the Pied Piper on notice.

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Via: New Scientist

Source: PLOS (PDF)

Muse brain-sensing headband thoughts-on (video)

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Muse brain-sensing headband thoughts-on (video)

Plenty of companies are experimenting with thought-reading gadgets, and in the cluttered South Hall here at CES, we came across the folks from InteraXon showing off their Indiegogo-funded "Muse brain-sensing headband." It measures EEG signals from four forehead sensors and two tucked behind the ears, and sends those brain measurements to other gear via Bluetooth. InteraXon has developed an app suite for mobile devices to showcase the headband's capabilities, including thought-controlled games and brain tracking, exercise and fitness software for improving cognitive function, memory, attention and for reducing stress. That'll come bundled with any purchased units, but an SDK is also available for third-party developers to explore other possibilities.

They had a demonstration set up on the show floor, so we thought we'd sit down and take it for a spin. The headband was flexible and surprisingly comfortable, and with a bit of fiddling, we were good to go. One monitor showed brain activity on a couple of complicated graphs, while a scene on a second monitor grew busier as our concentration increased. Watching one graph react to blinking was pretty cool, and once concentration levels reached over 85%, it started to snow on the animated scene. While this obviously isn't very relevant to any potential applications, it was fun to watch the hardware clearly working as intended. You can check out our shots of the headband in the gallery, or check out the video of us trying it out below. Unfortunately we were only allowed to use it for a limited time -- the demonstration was in danger of breaking due to this editors' massive brain.

Gallery: Muse brain-sensing headband

Kevin Wong contributed to this report.

Continue reading Muse brain-sensing headband thoughts-on (video)

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Source: InteraXon

DARPA threat detection technology uses a camera to see targets, software and soldier brains to identify them

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DARPA threat detection technology uses a camera to see targets, software and soldier brains to identify them

DARPA aids our military in myriad ways, from designing one shot, one kill weapons to creating robotic pack mules to carry soldiers' gear. It's also been building tools for soldiers to better survey their environment and identify threats, and its latest such tool is called the Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System (CT2WS). CT2WS is comprised of a 120-megapixel electro-optical video camera with a 120-degree field of view feeding a laptop running cognitive visual processing algorithms. Those algorithms identify potential targets in the video feed, which are shown to a soldier wearing an EEG cap that monitors brain signals. You see, the human brain is particularly good at perceiving threats, and CT2WS looks for the particular brain wave that occurs when we see one. The human component drastically improves the accuracy with which the system can identify enemies from afar. How accurate? Testing in desert, tropical and open terrain showed that without a solider/EEG filter, the system had 810 false alarms out of 2,304 threat events in an hour. Incorporating the filter resulted in only five false alarms per hour, plus it was able to identify 91 percent of the potential targets successfully. Not good enough, you say? Add commercial radar into the mix and the army becomes omniscient -- the system then identified 100 percent of the test targets.

Continue reading DARPA threat detection technology uses a camera to see targets, software and soldier brains to identify them

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DARPA threat detection technology uses a camera to see targets, software and soldier brains to identify them originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers tout progress with brain-controlled robotic legs

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Researchers tout progress with braincontrolled robotic legs

While some mind-control technologies may not amount to much more than gimmicks, there's also plenty of serious research being done in the field -- particularly when it comes to artificial limbs. So far, the majority of that work has focused on robotic arms, but a team of researchers from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, California have now made some progress with a robotic leg prosthesis controlled by EEG signals. As you might expect, things remain a bit limited at this point -- not amounting to much more than the ability to start and stop -- but the researchers say they've been able to achieve a 100 percent response rate with no "false alarms," and that the results are promising enough to begin tackling additional degrees of freedom like turning and sitting. What's more, while the system has so far only been tested on able-bodied individuals, the researchers hope that it will eventually be able to aid those with spinal cord injuries and aid in rehabilitation. You can get a quick look at it on video after the break.

Continue reading Researchers tout progress with brain-controlled robotic legs

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Researchers tout progress with brain-controlled robotic legs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceTechnology Review Physics arXiv Blog  | Email this | Comments

Researchers tout progress with brain-controlled robotic legs

Posted on by

Researchers tout progress with braincontrolled robotic legs

While some mind-control technologies may not amount to much more than gimmicks, there's also plenty of serious research being done in the field -- particularly when it comes to artificial limbs. So far, the majority of that work has focused on robotic arms, but a team of researchers from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, California have now made some progress with a robotic leg prosthesis controlled by EEG signals. As you might expect, things remain a bit limited at this point -- not amounting to much more than the ability to start and stop -- but the researchers say they've been able to achieve a 100 percent response rate with no "false alarms," and that the results are promising enough to begin tackling additional degrees of freedom like turning and sitting. What's more, while the system has so far only been tested on able-bodied individuals, the researchers hope that it will eventually be able to aid those with spinal cord injuries and aid in rehabilitation. You can get a quick look at it on video after the break.

Continue reading Researchers tout progress with brain-controlled robotic legs

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Researchers tout progress with brain-controlled robotic legs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceTechnology Review Physics arXiv Blog  | Email this | Comments

EEG headware probes your neurons, shows interrogators your cranial contact list

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Mind reading headware may probe your neurons, show interrogators who or what you know

You might pride yourself on your poker face, but there would be no way to hide from a skull-probing EEG helmet being developed by Veritas Scientific. The device takes advantage of a well-known medical response called P300, which causes your brain's voltage to drop a split-second after you put a name to a face or object. Simply by showing you a slideshow of different images, interrogators could tell whether or not you recognize a particular individual -- or maybe that LTE-connected railgun hidden in your trunk. The company is pursuing military contracts and hopes to have a prototype ready in time for this year's war game exercises, but meanwhile you might want to start thinking of a way to install that tinfoil hat inside your skull.

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EEG headware probes your neurons, shows interrogators your cranial contact list originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 07:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Axio’s EEG headband helps you teach your brain to focus (hands-on)

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Axio's EEG headband helps you teach your brain to focus handson

Usually when an EEG sensor headset graces these pages, it's used to peer into your thoughts or grant the wearer the power to control other gadgets with his or her mind. While such uses have appeal, start-up company Axio has a new EEG headband that aims to help you learn to better control your own brain. It tracks your level of mental focus in real-time and provides positive reinforcement audio feedback when you're mentally locked in. The neoprene band packs a trio of electrodes, a PCB with a Bluetooth radio and audio out, and a battery pack to power everything. It works by identifying the brainwave readings that correlate to ideal executive function in your pre-frontal cortex and shooting that data to your computer or phone via Bluetooth. Axio's software then shows an onscreen graph that charts your focus level in real-time, and for folks who prefer a more literal tracking method, there's a photo above the chart that moves in and out of focus along with your mind. Additionally, the headband provides pleasing audio neurofeedback when you're focused in order to train you to stay mentally engaged.

Gallery: Axio EEG headband hands-on

Unfortunately, we couldn't get much more information about the neurofeedback functionality, as the technology behind it is the company's secret sauce, and it won't divulge more until it's got the cash to bring the band to market. We also weren't able to actually test the band to see how it works, as it's still in the prototype phase and there's still a kink or two left to work out. Axio did tell us that the prototype we got our mitts on was the result of just six short months of work, and that after hacking together the original design using Arduino, the current iteration has a custom PCB better suited to Axio's needs. Co-founder Arye Barnehama also informed us that the band should be on sale by the end of summer, though he wouldn't say for how much or where we'll be able to pick one up. Sometime after it hits store shelves, Axio plans to release an SDK so that enterprising devs can make their own focus-aiding software and implement whatever audio feedback they prefer to help them take care of business -- a dose of Bachman-Turner Overdrive ought to do the trick.

Axio's EEG headband helps you teach your brain to focus (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAxio  | Email this | Comments