Mind Controlled Electronics

Commanding machines using the brain will no longer be just a science fiction stuff. Currently, brain implants allow people to control robots and stuff using their minds, forecasting the time when patients will overcome disabilities using bionic limbs and mechanical exoskeletons. But instead of the invasive brain implants, electrical engineer Todd Coleman at the University of California in San Diego is researching noninvasive devices for mind guided, remotely controlled machines. His team is developing wireless, tattoo-like flexible electronics one can apply on the forehead to read brain activity.


“We want something we can use in the coffee shop to have fun,” Coleman says. “We’ve demonstrated our sensors can pick up the electrical signals of muscle movements in the throat so that people can communicate just with thought,”. He meant the phenomenon fo subvocalization, which is throat muscles movement when people think about talking. Electronic tattoos placed over the throat could also pick up signals that would help smartphones with speech recognition, he added. However, Coleman noted that the invasive brain implants remain better at reading brain activity.
The devices have diameter of less than 100 microns, just like an average human hair. They consist of circuitry embedded in a layer of rubbery polyester which allow them to stretch, bend and wrinkle.
The devices can detect electrical signals related to brain waves, and include also solar cells  and antennas that allow them to communicate wirelessly or receive energy. Other elements, such as thermal sensors and light detectors, could be added.
One application they are now pursuing is monitoring premature babies to detect the onset of seizures that can lead to epilepsy or brain development problems. The devices are now being commercialized for use as consumer, digital health, medical device, and industrial and defense products by startup MC10 in Cambridge, Mass.
In past studies, Coleman’s team found that volunteers could control remotely airplanes by using special caps with many electrodes attached. Although the electronic tattoos currently cannot be used to pilot planes, “we’re actively working on that,” Coleman said.