At The Cutting Edge: Typing By Thought Is Closer Than You May Have Realized!
About fifteen years ago, the consumer software market was all abuzz over voice recognition technology. You could buy programs that, after a training session that created a template of your specific voice, intonation, and speech patterns, could (supposedly) recognize vocal commands. Between tragically slow computer processors and comparatively limited hard drive space relative to the demands of such vocal recognition training programs, many consumers discovered that voice operation of their computers was more of a boondoggle than a benefit. Now, with applications like Siri from Apple, voice recognition has progressed to the point where it is a practical way to interact with many computer devices. So, what is the next step; what is like voice recognition was fifteen years ago to push the envelope forward? That would be thought recognition and it is no longer just a science fiction concept!
Thought recognition is exactly what it sounds like; it is a combination of hardware and software that translates your thoughts into letters. Presumably, as the technology develops, thought recognition will translate entire words you think for the programs. Imagine how irksome auto-correct might be when you are only thinking your words!
As actualized by four researchers from the Faculty of Psychology & Neuroscience Department of Neurorecognition at Universiteit Maastricht, thought recognition technology is currently based upon the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging. An fMRI scan can reveal how blood moves in your brain when you mentally envision a single letter. The researchers connected an fMRI scanner to new software they developed for the thought recognition program.
The thought recognition software is very much like the old voice recognition software used to be. When connected to the fMRI scanner, you provide the software with a “map” of how your unique brain perceives each letter of the alphabet. By testing through each letter, the software creates a template of how blood in your brain moves and associates it with each letter. After the training sessions are complete, you simply think of the letters you would type and a virtual keyboard types the letters into your program!
The applications for thought recognition software like this is extensive, especially for patients who lose limbs or for whom speech and typing are difficult. While the early results of this research are incredible, there is still a long way to go before devices are pioneered that would translate mental images – like dreams – into digital images. That day might be a long way off, but the current prototypes of thought recognition devices are an important step in that direction and impressive in their own right.
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