Wetware fans, rejoice! German company gTec has announced that it's selling the brain-computer interface technology it has been working on for years, called the gTec Pocket BCI. The idea is simple: You put on a headset that monitors your brain activity, and then you can use certain thoughts to do things like move a cursor on a screen or to spell out text.

The "Pocket BCI" that gTec has developed is remarkably small, containing only the headpieces, a receiver, and the attached devices that receive and transmit the signal to a computer. The headpiece is an EEG that monitors brain activity and connects to a signal amplifier plugged in via USB to a laptop, PDA, or other device that can monitor or interpret the signal.

Currently, the BCI can be used to spell out words and play pong, but future revisions will have more advanced functions; gTec is selling the technology so others can build on its work. Eventually, gTec would like a version that can be implanted into a person's skull for direct contact between the sensors on the device and the brain itself.

The eventual goal is to use the device to help people in a totally locked-in mental environment, like paralysis patients and people with developmental disabilities or diseases that have affected their central nervous systems. With a system like this, controlling a wheelchair or computer could be as simple as thinking about it. gTec's Pocket BCI has been nominated for the European Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Prize, which recognizes innovative products and projects in technology.

Via Gizmag

Post by Alan Henry