and Musk can take comfort in the 73 percent of respondents
who claimed to be excited by the technology.
His firm, Neuralink, states its initial goals are similar to the
Melbourne trial: to help people with paralysis to regain
independence through the control of computers and mobile
devices. Neuralink hopes to connect directly to thousands of
neurons in the brain, sending the information to a computer
where it’s processed and initially used to control a mouse.
This will be expanded, as the recipient becomes more skilled
and the algorithms more tightly focused, to a keyboard,
speech synthesis and – yes – a game controller.
Just because you’re controlling a controller with your mind
doesn’t mean you’ll be playing
Doom Eternal all day, of
course, they have other
applications, perhaps tied
into the control system of a
motorised wheelchair. But
it does open the door to
brain-controlled gaming.
Neuralink says it hopes to
‘discover’ non-medical uses for the technology.
MIND CONTROL
Controlling games with your brain isn’t new. In 2010 a man
was able to use an EEG (electroencephalogram) brain-
scanning helmet known as the Berlin Brain-Computer
Interface to play pinball (an Addams Family-themed table, for
fans of spooky disembodied movement) at the CeBIT
technology fair in Hannover, Germany. British company
MyndPlay will sell you its MyndBand EEG headband, with
three sensors that fit over your forehead, for £200, and
there’s an SDK for you to create something to use it with.
Actual PC software seems a little sparse, however, with a
mind-controlled media player, a rugby ball-kicking app and
various quizzes the main events. There are also apps to train
your brain, making yourself calmer, treating self-doubt,
dealing with feelings of anger or guilt, and ones to help you
meditate, rewarding you for entering a relaxed mental state.
It seems neural interfaces are here, and in the case of
MyndPlay actually functional, but we’re not quite sure what to
do with them. The UK Government report mentions their use
in therapy, as well as applications for marketing – gaining
insights into consumer decision-making direct from the brain- and defence. There are also ethical considerations to be
taken into account when
fishing data directly from the
living surface of our brains,
and an ethical framework was
published by the Nuffield
Council on Bioethics in 2013,
which deal with the effects
the withdrawal of beneficial
products may have on their
former user, among other things, and that non-therapeutic
devices must be regulated because they are likely to be used
in private and without medical supervision. It recommended
the European Commission regulate BCIs as medical devices
no matter what their intended use.
When they break through to the mainstream, however,
it remains to be seen if BCIs will be treated like Wi-Fi kettles - an amusing but largely unnecessary product with its roots
in helping the disabled – or like VR, a more serious product
that will continue to gain traction as the initial high prices
come down. We wouldn’t bet against the latter.
Ian Evenden
TOP LEFT: The
position of the motor
cortex within the
human brain.ABOVE: The
Myndplay headset
connects to a PC
via Bluetooth and
is rechargeable
over USB.LEARNING Videogames don’t need a physical connection to affect our minds
3
COMMONSENSE
On Steam, Power Brain
Trainer aims to train your
memory and more.2
SMARTS
Luminosity aims to help you
improve memory, increase focus
and feel sharper.4
NEW SKILLS
Dr. Kawashima’s Brain
Training: How Old Is Your Brain?
for the DS was released in 2005.1
MEMORY
On the Windows Store, Mind:
Brain Training is a series of
number and memory puzzles.NEURALINK SAYS IT HOPES
TO ‘DISCOVER’ NON-MEDICAL
USES FOR THE TECHNOLOGYSupplementary
motor areaPrimary motor
cortexPremotor cortexImage credit: MyndplayHARDWARE
Tech Report