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Japan refines technology, lets brain power do the work

Control electronic devices, just by thinking.

HATOYAMA, Japan - Forget the clicker: A new technology in Japan could let you control electronic devices without lifting a finger simply by reading brain activity.

The "brain-machine interface" developed by Hitachi Inc. analyzes slight changes in the brain's blood flow and translates brain motion into electric signals.

A cap connects by optical fibers to a mapping device, which links, in turn, to a toy train set via a control computer and motor. Hitachi demonstrated it recently at the company's Advanced Research Laboratory in Hatoyama, just outside Tokyo.

"Take a deep breath and relax," said Kei Utsugi, a researcher, while demonstrating the device.

At his prompting, a subject did simple calculations in her head, and the train sprang forward - apparently indicating activity in the brain's frontal cortex, which handles problem solving.

Activating that region of the brain - by doing sums or singing a song - makes the train run, Utsugi said. When one stops the calculations, the train stops, too.

Underlying Hitachi's brain-machine interface is a technology called optical topography, which sends a small amount of infrared light through the brain's surface to map out changes in blood flow.

Although brain-machine interface technology has traditionally focused on medical uses, makers like Hitachi and Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. have been racing to refine the technology for commercial application.

Hitachi's scientists are set to develop a brain TV remote controller letting users turn a TV on and off or switch channels.

Honda, whose interface monitors the brain with an MRI machine like those used in hospitals, is keen to apply the interface to next-generation automobiles.

The technology could one day replace remote controls and keyboards, and perhaps help disabled people operate electric wheelchairs, beds or artificial limbs.

A key advantage to Hitachi's technology is that sensors don't have to physically enter the brain. Chips can be placed under the skull.

Still, major stumbling blocks remain. Size is one issue, though Hitachi has developed a prototype compact headband and mapping machine that together weigh only about 2 pounds.

Any brain-machine interface device for widespread use would be "a little further down the road," project leader Hideaki Koizumi said.

[Last modified June 22, 2007, 22:58:40]