
Wristband Lets the Brain Control a Computer with a Thought and a Twitch - rayascott
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wristband-lets-the-brain-control-a-computer-with-a-thought-and-a-twitch/
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georgewfraser
Can electrodes recording muscle activity be a better input device than a
keyboard and a trackpad? Only if humans have the ability to control individual
motor units separately. All of the evidence indicates the opposite: that our
nervous system is hard wired to recruit motor units together in an orderly
fashion.

You can make an argument that a wristband input device is more portable or has
entertainment value. But the idea that this is going to give you more degrees
of freedom needs some serious evidence.

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anonytrary
There have been a lot of discussions on HackerNews in the past about EEGs and
other potential input devices, but these non-invasive devices lack the
required throughput to be used as a full keyboard replacement. EEGs, for
example may allow you to transfer on the order of a few bits per second. I
have always been interested in the potential of humans to "learn" (with the
help of some sort of feedback training) how to control these macroscopic
oscillations in a way that gives them a higher bit rate.

Most people conclude that it's not possible and that in-vivo solutions (e.g.
invasive BCIs) are required for anything interesting. IIRC, there is research
out there that suggests humans, with practice, can learn to "control" the
amplitudes of certain large scale oscillations (alpha, theta, etc.). I think
this has been done in certain ADHD studies, but it's been a while since I read
about it.

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georgewfraser
The funny thing about this whole discussion is that invasive BCIs are also
quite low-bandwidth. Even a Utah array under ideal circumstances recording
50ish neurons is still much worse than a mouse or a keyboard.

People seem to assume that it’s possible to get a higher bandwidth connection
by tapping into neural activity directly, but it’s not obvious to me that
should be true. After all, our whole nervous system is optimized for
controlling our bodies. I’m not saying it’s impossible to build a neural
interface that’s better than the one already plugged into your brain (your
body), but I am saying nobody has come close yet.

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tialaramex
"Rainbows End" by Vernor Vinge has all the younger people (and those grown-ups
who are hip) "wearing". Their clothes are (in some unspecified way) I/O
devices, so that they learn from quite young how to communicate and control
things through imperceptible movements. Teaching her grandfather how to "wear"
is part of how the main protagonist gets caught up in the events of the novel.
The novel is pretty vague about how much bandwidth is involved, but the
convenience is the thing - you are wearing clothes all the time (or at least
during waking hours if you prefer to sleep naked) and so if you've learned it
then replying "Yes!" to a friend's question about whether you want them to
save you some apple pie becomes no harder than nodding is, except it works at
a distance.

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Dowwie
There are stroke victims who are trapped inside a body that is no longer
operational. Sometimes, all they can manage to do is move one or two
appendages. If this computer can free these kinds of shut-ins, it will be life
changing.

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d-jo
If anyone is looking for more information about locked-in syndrome, the book
"Consciousness and the Brain" by Stanislas Dehaenehas has some chapters about
a few of these patients. Dehaenehas details how they use fMRIs to communicate
with some of the patients. Its a very interesting read.

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escapologybb
Hello, if anybody on this project is reading this then you really really need
my help. I am quadriplegic and this looks like it would make my life about
14.3 million percent easier (roughly).

My email address is in my profile and I beta test new devices from an
accessibility perspective professionally and just as part of making my life
easier!

Very cool advances, would love to be involved.

Thanks, Stuart.

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digi_owl
I smell a hype cycle revving up.

There are no actual images of the device, nor any videos of it being used.
Just a bunch of supposed in use stills and descriptions of how it works.

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aggie
I have personally used a similar device and administered research on the
ability to train yourself to control interfaces using EMG readings at a muscle
site. A challenge to making this attractive as a consumer product is it
required an adhesive electrode pad, and doesn't work so well if you are hairy
where the electrode needs to be. If this isn't resolved with this new armband,
that could be why they aren't showing much.

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noobiemcfoob
Looks to be a similar device to the Myo Armband:
[https://www.myo.com/](https://www.myo.com/)

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ChuckMcM
Yes, a lot similar. I wonder how they differentiate.

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prawn
Hopefully it's actually useful. I pre-ordered the Myo, used it a couple of
times and have left it in a drawer since. Doesn't work reliably enough even
with simply gestures to take on a basic task in your workflow.

I had hoped to use it to switch work spaces or bring up frequent apps, but it
was easier to do things manually rather than have the gesture fail 50% of the
time.

~~~
ChuckMcM
I had a similar experience with the Myo, I found that if you use the
conductive gel that they use on heart monitors it helps considerably.

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wyattpeak
The world's most advanced BCI - the hand!

But seriously, I don't understand the problem they're trying to solve here.
Nobody is going to learn to stimulate their muscles in new ways for an
interface - an interface is supposed to make things easier. And if they're not
using new stimulation patterns, or firing individual motor units, they're just
moving their (arms|eyes|faces|...), which can be detected easily enough with a
camera.

Not to say that the technology isn't interesting, but I think until we
understand the brain much better than we do currently, the only use for BCIs
is precisely the market they dismiss in the introduction - the severely
disabled.

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malloryerik
One of my dreams is to be able to move freely -- take walks! -- while editing
text in my head. I'd absolutely spend hours and hours to learn to have a
keyboard's functionality with, say, fingertip movements in the air. I don't
know how a display would work. Of course the real dream is editing the text
directly in the mind, some kind of thought-files, but I've imagined that
glasses might be best as they're the least intrusive and possible in my
lifetime. But even some kind of physical monitor might work: hold with one
hand and write with the other.

Isn't that a pencil and notebook?

Yes, so far that's the best for walks, but I'd love to have a computer's
functionality, be able to code, pull up files, copy and paste, etc., while
moving, as opposed to stopping to jot something down and then moving again.

Slowly walking is just so great for thinking.

I'd even thought of a walking harness for my laptop, but it's just so absurdly
awkward and even dangerous... :)

So what about a smartphone or tablet?

A great new input method might do the trick. I already use Swype on iOS
despite the many (often embarrassing) mistakes I make. It's the second-best
for walks after a pencil and notepad.

But a wrist sensor that let me type with little finger movements? I'd be so so
so into that.

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lam
Hi. I've got something to show you. I have the same problem as what you
describe, and that's the inspiration for what I've built. I can let you try it
if you'll give me feedback. How can I reach out to you? My contact is my
username @opdig.com.

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caseymarquis
I wonder if the same technology could be used on the neck or spine
effectively.

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aggie
It probably can. With some training, the 'ear wiggling muscle' is often
functional even for quadriplegics. You can read more here, from the lab I RA'd
for in college:
[https://research.engineering.ucdavis.edu/rascal/publications...](https://research.engineering.ucdavis.edu/rascal/publications/)

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yters
I can control my computer with my brain using my fingers.

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orb_yt
Definitely read that as Twitch.tv.

Oh the ideas...

