Portable interface enables users to dial by thought control

While similar work has been published before, (see article in New Electronics, below) this is the first time a device has specifically been created to be small, cheap and portable. Jung and his colleagues developed the interface to act as an ultraportable aid for severely disabled people. However, he says broader applications are possible, such as a hands free system for cellphone users, or as a device to detect when drivers or air traffic controllers are getting drowsy by sensing lapses in concentration. Jung's system relies on electroencephalogram (eeg) electrodes on the scalp to analyse electrical activity in the brain. An eeg headband is hooked up to a Bluetooth module that wirelessly sends the signals to a Nokia N73 cellphone, which uses algorithms to process the signals. Participants were trained on the system via a visual feedback system. They were shown images on a computer screen that flashed on and off almost imperceptibly at different speeds. These oscillations can be detected in a part of the brain called the midline occipital. Jung and his colleagues exploited this by displaying a keypad on a large screen with each number flashing at a slightly different frequency. For instance, '1' flashed at nine hertz, and '2' at 9.25 hertz, and so on. Jung says this frequency can be detected through the eeg, thus making it possible to tell which number the subject is looking at. In an experiment conducted by the Journal of Neural Engineering, 10 subjects were asked to input a 10 digit telephone number using the device and seven of the participants achieved 100% accuracy.