DailyDirt: Combining Biology And Machines...

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Nature has had a few billion years to evolve some pretty useful abilities, but people are always trying to improve upon what's already available. One of the big challenges is creating an interface between biological mechanisms and various electronic devices. Implanting electrodes into brains or having insects control robot bodies are ongoing experiments -- and there are a few other projects combining biology and machines that could be even more cutting edge.

• Cyborg roses have been grown with electrically-conducting wires in the flower's xylem -- its vascular system that usually transports water throughout the plant. This could be an important first step towards making plants that can be controlled or used as sensors. Or it could start some kind of cross between The Happening and Terminator. [url]
• Phil Kennedy has developed brain-computer interfaces since the 1980s, but he took his research to an extreme by getting his own brain implant. It was getting difficult to find healthy people to volunteer for a brain surgery to implant electrodes, so Kennedy paid a surgeon to do it to himself. Complications forced him to remove the implants after about a month, but he gathered some data during his time as a cyborg that might help further brain research in speech decoding. Still, it's not exactly the best way to conduct brain research when there are concerns about safety and reproducibility. [url]
• Ray Kurzweil predicts a lot of far out stuff, and he thinks nanobots will connect our brains directly to external computers -- allowing us to access information and ideas at a faster and broader scale than ever before. Kurzweil says our abilities will become "godlike" -- but it depends on which gods we become like, really. (e.g., tormented gods or jealous ones or...) [url]

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Filed Under: brain computer interface, brain research, cyborg, hmi, implants, nanobots, phil kennedy, plants, ray kurzweil

DailyDirt: Connecting Brains To Other Stuff

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If artificial intelligence doesn't seem to be making as much progress as we'd like, there are some other ways to try to create more intelligent beings on demand. If we can't breed smarter animals, perhaps we can make some animal cyborgs to do our bidding. We'll need some better brain interfaces, and it looks like plenty of folks are already working on them.

• Neurobiologists have figured out how to connect multiple brains together by implanting microwire electrode arrays in animals -- and proving two heads are actually better than one. Researchers accomplished this feat with rat and monkey brains (not mixing the species, mind you, that would be crazy...), and they found multiple brains could perform tasks that single brains could not. These 'brainets' could someday be used on human brains... so imagine a Beowulf cluster of human brains? [url]
• A low-cost headset called the Brainwriter can control digital interfaces with thought-detection and eye tracking sensors. It's not exactly a finished product yet, but... similar gadgets could become much more useful in the near future. [url]
• Brain implants might be far less invasive with injectable electrode meshes that can unfurl onto various kinds of nerve or brain cells. Injecting flexible electronics into mice brains via a syringe has been a demonstrated way to monitor brain activity, and researchers might be able to create a brain interface -- so we could create a super-intelligent rat brain network to take over the world. [url]

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Filed Under: ai, animal intelligence, animals, brainet, brains, brainwriter, cyborg, hmi, implants, intelligence, lab rats, smart animals

DailyDirt: Brain-Controlled Robots... And Vice Versa?

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The general population might not be ready for brain implants for mind-controlled robots, but research on brain interfaces could eliminate the invasive surgery requirements for interacting directly with brain activity -- and then everyone might be able to test drive their own thought-controlled robots. Becoming a cyborg might not appeal to everyone, but remote controlled robots that are easy to operate might be a cool toy.

• Next-generation prosthetic limbs will be controlled by a user's thoughts. Some amputees are already testing prosthetic hands and limbs, and a few patients have reported being able to feel texture using devices that interface with remapped nerves. Modular Prosthetic Limbs (MPLs) have a long term goal of not requiring any surgeries or implants to control a dexterous robot, and the price tags will also need to come down from the half million dollar cost of the prototypes. [url]
• Mind-reading robots can help paralyzed patients interact with common objects more easily. Robot arms are getting much better, but the interface still requires a brain implant. [url]
• A startup called Thync is working on a wearable device that could control your mood using electronic signals to cranial nerves. This brain interface uses transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) which has been tested for treating depression and other medical uses, but this wearable would be used like an electrical replacement for caffeine or alcohol. [url]

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Filed Under: brain, brain implant, cyborg, hmi, neural interface, prosthetic limbs, robots, tdcs, trans-cranial direct current stimulation, wearables

DailyDirt: Braiiins... And Brain Implants

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Cyborgs are already walking among us -- if you count people who have advanced pacemakers and other implanted devices (eg. insulin pumps, cochlear implants, etc). There are also a handful of folks who are actively trying to become cyborgs, like Kevin Warwick. However, brain implants still need to be a lot less invasive and traumatic if anyone is going to really get a direct, permanent brain interface. Here are just a few links on neuro-interfaces that are making some progress.

• Cyborg rodents with spinal cord injuries can walk again thanks to implanted neural interfaces and flexible silicone wiring. This kind of research is still quite far away from being used in human patients, but it's promising work that could someday lead to amazing computer-brain interfaces. [url]
• The Utah Array is a chip that can be implanted in a person's brain and receive signals to do things such as control prosthetic limbs. There are also other kinds of neuroprosthetics that are similar (eg. Michigan array and NeuroProbes arrays), but these devices aren't exactly ready to replace smartphones just yet. [url]
• One woman has a brain implant that controls her epilepsy by scanning her brain for signs of a seizure and then stimulating her brain to interrupt it. Sixteen other patients have also been fitted with commercial neurostimulators, and doctors are learning more and more about how brain activity works with these implants. [url]

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Filed Under: brain, brain implants, cyborg, epilepsy, kevin warwick, michigan array, neural interfaces, neuroprobes array, neurostimulators, prosthetic limbs, utah array

DailyDirt: Making Robot Musicians

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Maybe the music industry isn't really worried about evil robots killing off music anymore, but as more and more technology gets into the field of music, there could be a new wave of neo-Luddite musicians. Software can compose music, and robots can play some musical instruments. What's left for humans to do? Check out some of these robot musicians, and you'll see why human musicians aren't that worried about losing their jobs to robots any time soon.

• Jason Barnes is a cyborg drummer with a robotic drumming prosthesis that lets Barnes play with three drumsticks. The third drumstick is actually autonomous and improvises based on what it senses Barnes is doing with his manually-controlled sticks. [url]
• Japanese roboticists have created a band of machines, including a guitarist with 78 fingers and a drummer with 22 arms. The Z-Machines band will release 5 songs written specifically for these robots, playing music that would be somewhat difficult for a human band to copy. [url]
• Compressorhead is another robot band. It's best known for performing a cover of Ace of Spades. [url]
• An improvising robotic marimba player named Shimon can jam with human musicians. This four-armed robot looks like it would fit right into a Star Wars cantina. [url]

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Filed Under: algorithms, autonomous drummer, compressorhead, cyborg, jason barnes, music, musicians, robots, shimon, squarepusher, z-machines

DailyDirt: Prosthetic Limbs -- Getting Better All The Time

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One of the most inspiring examples of a person using prosthetic limbs is Oscar Pistorius (aka the "Blade Runner") -- who will be the first leg amputee to compete with carbon fiber feet at the London Olympics. Pistorius was previously disqualified from the 2008 Olympics, but he'll be allowed to compete this year, potentially paving the way for other athletes to move over from the Paralympics. Here are just a few technological advances for artificial limbs that could create some cyborg-olympic athletes.

• Connecting severed nerves with robotic limbs needs a direct neural-prosthetic interface that could be made out of biocompatible polymers. The research could create prosthetics that are directly controlled by a user's thoughts, but such a system is still many years away from being a reality. [url]
• Paralyzed rats with spinal cord damage were given robotic legs that could respond to commands from the rats' brains, and these rats re-learned how to walk with several weeks of training. Maybe someday these little cyborgs will be as big as the Zhu Zhu pet craze... [url]
• Brain-computer interfaces are improving quite a bit, and one patient named S3 has 96 hair-sized electrodes implanted in her brain that can control a robotic arm well enough to lift a glass for a drink. The device used by S3 is a new version of Braingate that requires extensive training, but presumably, the technology will get even better and allow more quadriplegic people to have robotic help. [url]

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Filed Under: braingate, cyborg, hmi, neural-prosthetic interface, oscar pistorius, prosthetic limbs, robotic arms