From: snoswell@wattle.itd.adelaide.edu.au (Michael Snoswell)
Subject: Re: TECH: Neural Interfacing
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu
Organization: The University of Adelaide
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 01:16:55 GMT


keithley@apple.com (Craig Keithley) writes:
>In the last few weeks I've seen two articles about neural interfacing.  

>The first article is from the front page of the Wall Street Journal, Dec
>3rd 1992.  According to the article, Fujitsu Ltd. is working on a
>mind-reading computer.  Though limited to YES & NO thoughts, the initial
>step will be to develop a helmut that can monitor brain waves without using
>electrodes.

This sort of thing has been available for at least 20 years. All that
is required is an electroencephalogram with a number of electrodes.
The one described by Steve Ciarcia in Byte about ten years ago works
well for this. It can be statistically shown that the total signals
can be classified into states if the wearer is thinking YES or NO or
BLACK or WHITE etc. Realtime analysis of this data is easily done with
todays PCs and is a good science project. Further classification into
other categories has proved to be a real problem as far as signal
processing goes as the noise in such systems is very high. I imagine
embedded electrodes or single neuron taps like the ion transfer probe
would be useful here, but are beyond we mortal home tinkerers :-(

>The second article referenced the Hot Chips IV conference.  According to
>the article, a talk was given by Gregory Kovacs of Stanford University. 
>Kovacs is working on a passive neural interface that connects electrically
>with the nervous system, allowing both control of, and feedback from an
>artificial limb.  The neural interface consists of a 32x32 array of holes
>that the nerves pass through.  The article on the Hot Chips IV conference
>can be found in Circut Cellar Ink, The Computer Applications Journal, issue
>#30, December 92.

Once again, this was done with severed nerves which were 'encouraged'
to grow back together through a silicon detector block filled with holes
and certainly isn't home brew stuff ("Here kitty kitty...").

>And I've seen an occasional mention (on PBS, etc.) of Air Force research
>into advanced fighters and neurally controlled flight systems.  Nothing
>tangeable, just an interesting sign that the Air Force is doing research
>into neural interfaces.  

Apparantly they want to use them for weapons control, especially for
situations like high g turns where the pilot is doing his best just to
stay concious and certainly isn't able to hit firing buttons. I gather
the results are still too unpredictable to risks there use in such
areas.

I still think that true thought connections are a long way off, if not
simply for the reason that a tap to a human brain would undoubtedly
require surgery and prefereably implants into developing fetuses, and
who is going to agree with that? And whose got the money and skills
and incentive and approval etc?

Visual neural connections though, that's much easier, as is aural.
Smell is much too intimately connected to be easily tapped, especially
as smell does not have the associated neural interfacing that vision
and hearing has, but goes straight to a lower part of the brain.

To get a system that is both input and output (ie you see this and
walk over there, all in VR) would require disconnecting the motor
nerves. Fortunately this happens during sleep and the supressive
neuro-transmitters are identified (well some of them) that perform
this function. Still, to get to the area of the brain that says "Walk
over there", before the signal in supressed, would require some major
internal connections. Sure, it'll be done eventually (maybe not in my
lifetime), but one things for sure, no one is going to muck about with
*my* brain. So how do we do the research?

My 2c worth.

cheers
        Michael Snoswell

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Michael Snoswell                         snoswell@wattle.ucs.adelaide.edu.au  
  Vision Systems Limited                   michaels@vsl.com.au
  South Australia                          "Profound and witty quote"
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds