Title:
Brain-Computer Interfaces Could Mean More Freedom
for the Disabled
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Technology Report.
See text below
Text:
Since the nineteen seventies, scientists have been
searching for ways to link the brain with computers.
Brain-computer interface, or BCI, technology could
help people with disabilities send commands to
machines. Recently, scientists demonstrated a small
robotic vehicle directed by a person's thoughts. The
demonstration took place at the Swiss embassy in
Washington. Jose Millan and Michele Tavella
developed the system. Mr. Tavella can even talk as
he watches the vehicle and guides it with his
thoughts.Mr. Tavella is a researcher at the Federal
Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland. In the
laboratory, he can operate a wheelchair just by
thinking about moving his left or right
hand.Professor Millan is the team leader. He says
systems like those being developed in Lausanne and
other places may be available in less than ten
years. The aim is to give people with physical
disabilities new ways to communicate and control
devices through brain-machine interfaces.Our brain
has billions of nerve cells. These send signals
through the spinal cord to the muscles to give us
the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or
other conditions can prevent these weak electrical
signals from reaching the muscles.The researchers
designed a special cap for the user. It captures the
signals from the scalp and redirect them to a
computer. The computer interprets the signals and
commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair
also has two cameras that identify objects in its
path. They help the computer react to commands from
the brain.Professor Millan says scientists keep
improving the computer software that identifies
brain signals and turns them into simple commands.
He says: "The practical possibilities that
brain-machine interfaces offer to disabled people
can be grouped in two categories: Communication, and
controlling physical devices and virtual devices."
One example is the wheelchair. He says his team has
set two goals. "First is testing with real patients,
so as to demonstrate that this is a feasible
technology they can benefit from. And the second
aspect of that is to guarantee that they can use the
technology over long periods of time."For VOA
Special English, I'm Alex Villareal. You can learn
more about the world everyday and learn English at
the same time at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also
connect with us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA
Learning English.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
