What are Some Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI)?
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) with a longer history in science fiction (since the 1950s) and in research and animal models (since the 1970s) than practical implants for humans (1990s). A brain-computer interface links a human brain directly to a computer, where neural signals are interpreted and used to perform tasks such as manipulating a mouse. In this way, a paralyzed patient can surf the web or even move a prosthetic arm with their mind alone. Healthy people can even use non-invasive brain-computer interfaces as another type of computer input device, like a mouse or keyboard, although this technology has yet to be commercialized. Brain-computer interfaces can also send information back into the brain, for instance using electrodes to stimulate the visual cortex to “see” a scene taken by an external video camera, allowing blind patients to possess sight again, albeit far from perfectly. Several technologies have been successfully used to get basic signals out of the brain and int
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) with a longer history in science fiction (since the 1950s) and in research and animal models (since the 1970s) than practical implants for humans (1990s). A brain-computer interface links a human brain directly to a computer, where neural signals are interpreted and used to perform tasks such as manipulating a mouse. In this way, a paralyzed patient can surf the web or even move a prosthetic arm with their mind alone. Healthy people can even use non-invasive brain-computer interfaces as another type of computer input device, like a mouse or keyboard, although this technology has yet to be commercialized. Brain-computer interfaces can also send information back into the brain, for instance using electrodes to stimulate the visual cortex to “see†a scene taken by an external video camera, allowing blind patients to possess sight again, albeit far from perfectly. Several technologies have been successfully used to get basic signals out of the brain and
