And well before this technology makes it to space, you might be using it to type a letter into your computer without a keyboard, or you could play a Sega game sans the joystick.
Seem farfetched?
On Thursday, NASA scientists announced a prototype of just such a product, called a "neuroelectronic" control device. With some stretch tights, a bit of wire and a handful of common buttons (oh, and some really powerful software) a real-life pilot made a simulated landing of a severely damaged jumbo jet.
The nerve
Nerve signals, which the brain uses to control muscle movements, are like fingerprints: Each is unique. The new technology uses electrodes pressed against the skin to interpret the nerve signals generated by subtle muscle movements.
Employing "neural net" software, which learns the habits of a user and improves its own performance over time, the device translates the signals into computer commands. Neuroelectronic control is different from similar efforts that rely on external physical motion or cameras to interpret movement.
With such a high degree of
, the technology's developers say neuroelectric systems could even be used to operate military craft from the ground."You could actually have a wearable cockpit," explains Kevin Wheeler of NASA's Ames Research Center in California. "The pilot basically puts on some goggles and sees the buttons and switches. And they can interact with this virtual instrumentation."
And if mission objectives changed, requiring new instrumentation, the alteration might be accomplished with just a software swap, because the instrumentation "hardware" would all be virtual, Wheeler said in a telephone interview.
Wheeler said such far-out applications might become reality in as little as five years. Neuroelectric control of your mouse or keyboard is possible much sooner, he said.
"This is a fundamentally new way to communicate with machines -- another way to talk with our mechanical world," said Charles Jorgensen, head of the neuroengineering laboratory at Ames and lead author of a paper on the technology in the October 2000 proceedings of the World Automation Congress.
What about getting rid of the keyboard?
"You would just basically type on a piece of paper," Wheeler said. "Or type on your pants." Better news for touch-typers than hunt-and-peckers.
Lycra and some buttons
Though the concept is high-tech, the prototype is reminiscent of garage experiments for which scientists have always been known.
Jorgensen and Wheeler made an armband from exercise tights and eight metallic dress buttons, which served as sensing electrodes. They tested the gadget in simulated aircraft landings at San Francisco International Airport.
A damaged 757, to be precise.
"In the experiment, a pilot closes his fist in empty air, makes movements and creates nerve signals that are captured by a dry electrode array on his arm," said Jorgensen. "The nerve signals are analyzed and then routed through a computer, allowing the pilot to control the simulated airplane."
The pilot, wearing the buttons on his forearms, monitored the control panel on a large dome-shaped screen as he brought the damaged craft in for a landing. He also had an external view of the plane.
Things didn't go well.
First the rudder controls locked up, and then the virtual plane experienced a full hydraulic failure. But software linked to the neurolectric sensor was designed to "relearn" how to fly a damaged craft in less than half a second. With the pilot presumably waving his button-laden forearm wildly at this point, the software responded.
There were no virtual deaths.
Next step
Wheeler and his colleagues, including Slawomir Stepniewski of Ames, are already focusing on the next generation of remote control. They have begun researching how to use brain waves to move a computer cursor.
The goal is to eventually combine this mind-bending ability with neurolectric control devices to achieve even greater remote control over computers and spacecraft.
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