Type With Your Brain — Like Stephen Hawking

Diggester writes that a group of researchers from Universiteit Maastricht's Faculty of Psychology & Neuroscience Department of Neurocognition "have invented a system that translates thoughts into letters. This really is an incredible breakthrough for any type of handicap, from serious motor impairment to debilitating speech. The system has been in real-world testing and is an extraordinary success. The patients are set up to look at a screen of the alphabet, thinking about each letter for a period of time; they should be able to think-type in real time. While it is not near the speed of actual typing, it is the only program of its kind and can only get better." "Of its kind" being relative, reader cylonlover writes "Tech startup Neurovigil announced last April that Stephen Hawking was testing the potential of its iBrain device to allow the astrophysicist to communicate through brainwaves alone. Next week Professor Hawking and iBrain inventor, Dr Philip Low from Stanford University, present their findings at the Francis Crick Memorial Conference in Cambridge, England. In anticipation, Gizmag spoke to Dr Low about the potential applications of the iBrain."

You'll need a huge wheelchair

[Xenna]

That Maastricht discovery is based on an fMRI scanner. AFAIK these scanners are hugely expensive as well as hugely huge. That kind of limits the usefulness in the near future.

Stephen Hawking doesn't type with his brain

[rodrigoandrade]

Instead, his computer screen has a cursor moving across a QWERTY grid. When it's on the letter/word he wants, a very faint twitch from his cheek, which is the equivalent of a mouseclick, selects the letter/word.

Re:Stephen Hawking doesn't type with his brain

[rodrigoandrade]

Replying to myself to add info. The cheek movement is captured by a tiny camera hanging from his glasses. Furthermore, I never saw electrodes attached to his head, which proves his brilliant brain isn't used for typing.

Re:Why should I like him?

[SuricouRaven]

Because Hawkins recognizes the importance of science education and outreach, maintains a media presence and published books to help laypeople understand at least a rough outline of theoretical physics. Higgs just published really arcane mathematics. Arcane mathematics is a very useful thing to have, certainly, it is what drives science and technology forwards, but it isn't going to motivate people to get into science as a career. Hawkins did math too, and I'm not even close to qualified to judge who did the most useful math, but I know that Hawkins has done a lot more to raise the standard of science education in the wider culture, and that makes him the winner by my judgement.

Re:Stephen Hawking doesn't type with his brain

[SilentStaid]

He's helping them test it. It doesn't say he currently uses it. RTFA or even the summary, please.