Control your home with thought alone

July 6, 2011 | Source: New Scientist Tech

Brain-computer interface (credit: G.Tec Medical Engineering GmbH)

More than 50 severely disabled people in Second Life have been trying out a sophisticated new brain-computer interface (BCI) that lets users freely explore Second Life’s virtual world and control their real-world environment.

The system was developed by medical engineering company G.Tec of Schiedlberg, Austria as part of a pan-European project called Smart Homes for All. It’s the first time the latest BCI technology has been combined with smart-home technology and online gaming.

To activate a command, the user focuses their attention on the corresponding icon on a screen. Electroencephalograph (EEG) caps pick up brain signals, which are translated into commands to navigate and communicate within Second Life and Twitter. It can also be used to open and close doors, answer the phone, and control the TV, lights, thermostat, and intercom.

G.Tec’s system has been tested at the Santa Lucia Foundation Hospital in Rome, Italy.