Not JUST a 2-legged, 1-dimensional, walking plot device ala much of the ‘character dialogue’ in “Dune”,
Not JUST a way to better pretend your pornographer-teddy-bear has come to life,
Not JUST a way for Emma Stone to reveal her true feelings in a romantic comedy about the highschool crush she doesn’t have the guts to talk to;
Something much more serious.
Scientist and Humanitarian, Bettina Sorger from the University of Maastricht has invented a clever fMRI app, much like a previous attempt to get Bill Clinton to tell the truth, that lets doctors read the letters of the alphabet right out of your brain; AS you Think Them!;
And all it requires is for You to Visualize.
Not sure how many lives it might save by opening communications with borderline-vegatative patients,
Or how government agencies will try to misuse the tech,
But it WILL surely improve the Quality-Of-Life for many long-term-care patients who are either dead-end prisoners of the “Locked-In” phenomenon, or cannot communicate for some other reason like ALS.
Even More Miraculous is that the system took VERY little time to calibrate for all the test-participants, AND it was Very Very accurate!!
The eventual aim one day is for a newer type of slim apparatus, probably closer to conductive-headbands of the relaxation-type games, to be deployed on a more portable and comfortable scale.
Now let it not be said the,
“P-L-E-A-S-E
S-C-R-A-T-C-H
M-Y
B-U-T-T
L-E-F-T
S-I-D-E”
-Tequests from Stephen Hawking will be any less awkward;
They won’t;
But the life-improvement for these lonely souls, will be absolutely Tectonic in how much it permanently reframes their Entire World for the better.
Hit up the links for more details!
Photo Credits:
“ETDRS Chart”, by Michal Zacharzewski
“Background 1”, by Pramod K Mahanand
“Violet Ornament”, by Aron Kremer
Links:
• Source: USAToday
• via: Gizmodo
• More Coverage: UMaastricht-Bettina Sorger, Inventor, Badass | SD | Engadget
• Source Study: CurrentBiology-A Real-Time fMRI-Based Spelling Device Immediately Enabling Robust Motor-Independent Communication
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