This processes the raw EEG to give data which can be viewed as 3D graphics, or converted to MIDI to control a soundcard or synthesiser. One user is Sylvia Pengilly, Professor of Music Theory at Loyola University in New Orleans. But one's feet should stay firmly on the ground, at least for now. Although the principles of EEG-based control sound simple, the extraction of meaningful data from an EEG trace remains at an extremely simplistic level. The dangers of inserting electrodes into brains, of course, remain.
BCI research is red-hot.
Although still at an exploratory stage, the implications of recent research results are phenomenally exciting. Perhaps one day, the human-computer interface, the Big Barrier, will simply disappear altogether. And instead of typing this article on my PC, I will merely have to think it. Toby Howard is a Lecturer in Computer Graphics at the University of Manchester. Toby Howard is a lecturer at the University of Manchester.