Honda scientists have created Brain Machine Interface that translate thoughts into electrical signals which can be used to control machinery.

It doesn't require the user to undergo surgery or even extensive training - a major advance over past thought-controlled technologies.

Researchers at the Honda Research Institute worked in co-operation with scientists from Japan's Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute to create the "Brain Machine Interface". The system reads "natural brain activity… for the near real-time operation of a robot".

Using a simple command system based on the 'scissors-paper-stone' game, scientists built a non-invasive detector with, they claim, possess a decoding accuracy of 85 per cent. The detector monitors the flow of blood around the brain rather than neural impulses per se.

There's a seven-second lag between the subject commanding his or her hand to form a scissor pattern and the robotic arm mimicking the human action. The system also requires some sophisticated computing to translate the brain's haemodynamics into robot-control signals and the subject has to lie in a brain scanner - which should be eliminated for widespread use..
via RegHardware