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Biotech Entertainment Games Science

Brain Controlled Virtual World for the Disabled 57

Posted by Zonk from the you-know-you're-thinking-metaverse dept.
Galactic_grub writes "New Scientist Tech has a story about a virtual world that paralyzed patients can explore using their thoughts. The set-up connects a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) to virtual reality so that a person can 'walk' through it, simply by thinking of moving their legs or their left or right hand. Electrodes are attached to their scalp and electroencephalogram (EEG) readings are used to navigate, or control an avatar. The story includes a video of the experiment."
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Brain Controlled Virtual World for the Disabled More

Brain Controlled Virtual World for the Disabled

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  • Yes, commercialize the research please..

    We've been hearing about this technology for years now.

    Get the invention out of the lab and into the hands of people who need it.

    There's disable people out there living terribly poor quality lives.. they could be playing WoW.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

      There's disable people out there living terribly poor quality lives.. they could be playing WoW.

      Cool, then they can die of starvation without even noticing! Dr. Kevorkian, is that you?

    • There's disable people out there living terribly poor quality lives.. they could be playing WoW.

      Charles Dickens called. He wants Scrooge's misanthropy back.
    • And not just for the disabled.. although i would pay and arm and a leg for it, i'd rather not have to

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by 3chuck3 ( 512455 )
      Yes, that was my 1st thought also. The diabled could be allowed the pleasure of MMO's. Kinda a Cyberpunk Braindance scenario.

  • Lets get real (Score:5, Insightful)

    by EmbeddedJanitor ( 597831 ) on Tuesday June 26, 2007 @06:52PM (#19656519)
    My wife spent a while caring for paraplegics and helping them to adjust. Most of these were young males hurt in mining accidents. Being able to have fantasies about walking is probably low on their agenda and probably serves little useful purpose. Being able to have realistic sex play is probably far more desirable and beneficial to the their health and wellbeing.

    • Being able to have realistic sex play is probably far more desirable and beneficial to the their health and wellbeing.

      You're probably right. When I was a fledgling nerd who couldn't get laid, I still cybersex0red, because it was better than nothing.

      On the other hand, my tackle was in working order, so at least I could occupy myself when I was done. Yeah, that's it, when I was done.

      </tmi>

    • This is being used to advance the technology of Mind Control, not to make a VR video game for paraplegics.

      In this way, the system can be trained to identify the distinctive patterns of neuronal activity produced when they imagine walking forwards, or think about moving either their left or right arm.

      The technology might be used to help people who have experienced a stroke recover greater control over their movements, suggests Christoph Guger, of Guger Technology in Graz, who helped develop the EEG part of the experimental set-up.

    • Virtual reality is cool and everything, but legalizing euthanasia is far more important. I know I'd rather be six feet under than lay in a bed for the next 50-70 years. That's torture, with or without virtual reality.

      • Re:Lets get real (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Original Replica ( 908688 ) on Tuesday June 26, 2007 @08:31PM (#19657349) Journal
        "I know I'd rather be six feet under than lay in a bed for the next 50-70 years."

        I think that's the whole point of this tech. To give some sort of social life to those who are both immobile and without the real life support network to have a fufilling life inspite of their physical limitations. And before you knock this "social life" too much, consider how many people spend the majority of their time in WoW or EVE chatting or helping friends, completely by their own choice. I could think of nothing better for establishing a good game community than to adapt it to a demographic that would likely use the game as a primary means of social interaction. And if I only ever know them as the high level character who helped me out when I was a newbie and who is quick on the chat lines with a joke or a helpful suggestion, maybe that that would be just fine with someone who is unable to be helpful or chatty IRL.

        • And before you knock this "social life" too much, consider how many people spend the majority of their time in WoW or EVE chatting or helping friends, completely by their own choice.

          I hope you realize how absurd it is to compare WoW with laying in bed for the rest of your life, unable to move.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Creedo ( 548980 )
            I hope you realize how absurd it is to compare WoW with laying in bed for the rest of your life, unable to move.

            Perhaps one problem is that you don't get the bigger picture. If you can control a character with your mind, you can control a vehicle, say, an electric scooter, or a voice synthesizer.

            This is ignoring the fact that this research isn't about MMORPGs. Aside from the obvious socialization benefits, you could also utilize it as a tutor, a virtual lab, etc. Who knows how many Hawkings-level inte
        • What do I care for your suffering? Pain, even agony, is no
          more than information before the senses, data fed to the
          computer of the mind. The lesson is simple: you have received
          the information, now act on it. Take control of the input and
          you shall become master of the output.

          -- Chairman Sheng-ji Yang,
          "Essays on Mind and Matter"

          (another Alpha Centauri quote)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Creedo ( 548980 )
        It's funny how so many people who actually are disabled [notdeadyet.org] disagree with you.
        • So what? I'm not them. If they are comfortable laying in bed for the rest of their lives, that's their decision. But just because they're okay with it doesn't mean everyone else should be forced to do the same.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by pravuil ( 975319 )
            The problem with your statement is that you could be and the probability of occurrence runs higher with people that don't appreciate their limitations. I know a lot of people who have lived with either lifelong disabilities or who have been injured in an accident due to either their negligence or someone else's. Losing someone you care about is a horrible thing to go through. If you have someone you care about, you would know what I'm talking about. If someone you knew cared about you that way, they would k

            • It seems like the easy way out.

              Please climb down from your ivoty tower and get a grip on reality. Life isn't some video game where you aren't allowed to "cheat" by taking the "easy way out," and this isn't an avenue for your intellectual and moral grandstanding. If someone wants to pull the plug on themselves, it should be their choice.
              • It should be their choice, yet if euthanasia was legal you would see parents, legal guardians and next of kin attempting to make this choice for others, and more than likely succeeding. This is my biggest problem with legalized murder, even if it starts with only self-murder it won't be that way for long.
                • Is there any rational reason to think that there would be some horrible slippery slope that would eventually lead to arbitrarily murdering patients without their consent?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Creedo ( 548980 )
            Did I say you did? I'm simply pointing out that you, as far as your post goes, have no frame of reference, and many disabled people(I would go so far as most, given the lack of widespread suicide and the lack of support for PAS in the group) fervently want to live. Deriding the important efforts to benefit those stricken by such problems(and this is more than MMORPGs for quadriplegics; think vehicle control and tele-presence technologies) in favor of simply killing them is short-sighted.

            Besides, legal e

            • Deriding the important efforts to benefit those stricken by such problems(and this is more than MMORPGs for quadriplegics; think vehicle control and tele-presence technologies) in favor of simply killing them is short-sighted.

              Please point out where I have ever advocated killing anyone.

              Besides, legal euthanasia opens up a whole new can of worms. Couple it with HMO-style thinking and the history lessons of the last century, and it's easy to see why disabled people protest it. They've been on the receiving end

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by Creedo ( 548980 )
                Please point out where I have ever advocated killing anyone.
                Are you not aware of the meaning of the term suicide? Assisted suicide is someone actively working to help kill another person.

                Yeah, giving people the freedom to chooce is such a horribly slippery slope.
                In this case, there is clear historical precedence of government-led violation of human rights. The US has horribly mistreated disabled people in the past century. The Germans took it to a new level, of course. Those are just the cases I know

                • Are you not aware of the meaning of the term suicide? Assisted suicide is someone actively working to help kill another person.

                  Yes, but that's quite different from what you were talking about. There's a difference between murder and assisted suicide.

                  In this case, there is clear historical precedence of government-led violation of human rights. The US has horribly mistreated disabled people in the past century. The Germans took it to a new level, of course. Those are just the cases I know of off the top of m

    • Actually, it makes me wonder. Bear in mind that I'm taking wild guesses here, though.

      For a start there was this other piece of research some time ago about how playing games even makes people somewhat forget about pain. As in, the physical pain kind. I don't know, it sounds fairly useful to me.

      Second, for the kind of people who'd _need_ a brain interface, I'm guessing they can't use their hands either. Maybe it's ADHD speaking, but it sounds completely fucking boring. You can't even read a book, or change T
    • Being able to have realistic sex play is probably far more desirable and beneficial to the their health and wellbeing.

      I'm pretty sure this could be used for plenty of Hentai Games over at J-List.

      *coughs*

      Not that I would know anything about that.
  • Hmm. This reminds me of Mr. Ng from Snow Crash. Could be interesting.
  • This thing is going to become the norm before too long. Personally, I'm looking forward to it. Thought controlled interfaces open up countless opportunities for computing.

    • This thing is going to become the norm before too long

      Before too long compared to what? The lifespan of a human? Not likely, it'll probably be another 5 or 6 years before it gets into the homes of disabled people, much less a normal person. It'll probably be at least a decade before it becomes commonplace in homes without someone who can't use another input device. However, if this turns out to be like speech recognition in accuracy and speed, it may take closer to 20 or 30 years.

      So unless you're comparing the timespan to the age of the earth, or the age

      • Ah, no, I mean within the next forty or fifty years, at most. That's probably within my lifespan, at least, and I tend to think of that as a short time. Compared with your average long-term plan for doing anything in space, in particular.

  • I'm not sure (Score:2, Insightful)

    by AciesD ( 881178 )
    This is going to be good for some people, but what happens when these people take of the electrodes and discover they still can't walk. I would think it would make them worse.

    However, this is a step in the right direction. If we can read and interpret instructions through EEG good enough to control an avatar, how far away can we be from using these same thoughts to control robotic limbs?
    • Why not use this same data to control an actual robot comparable to Honda's Asimo? Sure, the reliability of it is probably terrible right now, but the machine could be made to filter out random fidgeting signals (similar to what's done with micro-surgical equipment today to cancel surgeons' normal trembling), well enough to have a mobile viewpoint in the real world with cameras, microphones, and speakers. Better than nothing.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by paleo2002 ( 1079697 )
        Even more simply, this kind of brain-machine interface could be used to control motorized prosthetic hands and arms. As I understand, amputees currently rely on flexing their shoulder muscles, for example, to controlled a motorized hand. More capabilities could be added to these devices if controlling them becomes easier.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Garrett Fox ( 970174 )
          Yeah. I don't have the link on me at the moment, but DARPA recently announced an impressive new prosthetic arm prototype with plans to build an even beter one. Apparently it's got a two-way connection, with tactile feedback to the nervous system. Great!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Knara ( 9377 )
      Wtf? "discover they still can't walk"? What the hell are you on? I'm thinking this wouldn't be some sudden revelation to them.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by AciesD ( 881178 )
        They already know they can't walk. That's why they discover they still can't walk.

        They've been informed that this system will allow them to walk for a little while. They get a glimpse of movement and life and then it's taken away when the computer is turned off. All I was saying was that, if it's possible to utilize thought waves to control outside systems, shouldn't those systems be ones that are useful to them in real life?

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by hajus ( 990255 )
          "They already know they can't walk. That's why they discover they still can't walk.

          They've been informed that this system will allow them to walk for a little while. They get a glimpse of movement and life and then it's taken away when the computer is turned off."

          Yeah, when I take off my glasses at night and pick up a book to read. I'm stunned that the words are blurry. Then it occurs to me; oh yeah, I have to wear glasses.

          Jokes aside, I don't think that's going to be much of a problem when they turn off

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Knara ( 9377 )
          They're physically disabled, not vegetables or morons. They're not rediscovering anything.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by 4D6963 ( 933028 )

      This is going to be good for some people, but what happens when these people take of the electrodes and discover they still can't walk. I would think it would make them worse.

      IANAP, but when I play a with a flight simulator for a few hours, the last thing I want is to fly an actual plane. Same for sex, kind of, so I'd say, if as a paraplegic you took a 4 hour walk in Oblivion or the countryside of San Andreas, you'd want to take an actual walk less than before you started playing, mainly if you use your b

  • oh shit (Score:4, Funny)

    by jollyreaper ( 513215 ) on Tuesday June 26, 2007 @07:49PM (#19657053)
    Yeah, this seems all kewl and shit now, but just wait until they get put into these pepperpot things with plungers on the end, we'll be in for it then! "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"

  • (@ T- 26 seconds)

    "How are you? Chew on my milk duds."

    Nevertheless, fantastic use of technology. I can't wait to see where they go with this.

  • Atari Mindlink? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by CyberZCat ( 821635 ) on Tuesday June 26, 2007 @08:05PM (#19657153)
    This reminds me of a gaming console that Atari worked on in the mid-1980s called the Atari Mindlink, very similar concept except it used infrared sensors to measure the movement of the muscles in your head.

    http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/260 0/mindlink.html [atarimuseum.com]
  • I definitely agree with one of the previous posters that, I am not sure how much good a virtual world "game" would do for paralyzed individuals. I do think though that it could serve as a novel source of entertainment for them which could lift their spirits some. I can imagine that, myself, if I were ever in that kind of situation, the inability to play games would incredibly depress me since I get a great deal of enjoyment from them, so this virtual world would sound pretty fun, especially if it could be
  • I've got my imagination... don't we all? Makes a pretty good "virtual" world for me when needed.

    No... didn't RTFA.
  • Invest in a holodiction support clinic.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by pravuil ( 975319 )
      Yeah, internet gaming/sexual addiction is bad enough, but something like this inside the mass market will take it to a whole new level.
  • Its a bit after 2001, but hey, we could still have a Jobe Smith on our hands. ;) ...my birth cry will be the sound of every phone on this planet ringing in unison! Narean

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