A powerful new neurotech tool for augmenting your mind | Conor Russomanno
Sep 15, 2023
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Neurotechnologist Conor Russomanno discusses the potential of brain-computer interfaces, including the concept of a closed-loop system. He demonstrates a mind-controlled drone on the TED stage with neurohacker Christian Bayerlein.
Brain-computer interfaces can enable us to control the external world with our minds.
Combining brain and body data in closed-loop systems has the potential to revolutionize computing technology and enable empathetic computing.
Deep dives
BCI Technologies and Improving Human-Machine Interaction
Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI Technologies) have evolved from primitive experiments to rapidly advancing developments today. Through BCI, brain signals can communicate and command external devices, potentially enhancing cognition and interacting directly with artificial intelligence. This technology goes beyond entertainment, as it can significantly benefit people with disabilities. Neurotech entrepreneur Connor Rousamano demonstrates how BCI technologies work and their potential in aiding individuals with disabilities.
OpenBCI: From Brain Sensors to Mind-Controlled Devices
OpenBCI, an open-source neurotechnology company, started with the goal of allowing people to explore their own brain activity. However, they discovered that contextualizing brain data with information from other sensory receptors, such as muscles, heart, and environment, is crucial for a deeper understanding of the mind. By combining brain and body data, OpenBCI aims to create closed-loop systems that can both read from and modulate the brain and body. Such systems have the potential to revolutionize computing technology and enable empathetic computing.
Gahlia: Multimodal Biosensing for Cognitive Exploration
Gahlia, a multimodal biosensing headset developed by OpenBCI, integrates various sensors to measure the heart, skin, muscles, eyes, and brain. It combines this data with augmented or virtual reality headsets, enabling real-time interactivity and control. Gahlia's software suite translates the raw sensor data into meaningful metrics, allowing quantifiable inferences about states of mind like stress, fatigue, workload, and focus. OpenBCI's collaboration with a neurohacker named Christian Byerlan demonstrated how individuals with motor disabilities can use Gahlia to control devices, such as piloting a drone using repurposed muscles from around the body.
In an astonishing talk and tech demo, neurotechnologist Conor Russomanno shares his work building brain-computer interfaces that could enable us to control the external world with our minds. He discusses the quickly advancing possibilities of this field -- including the promise of a "closed-loop system" that could both record and stimulate brain activity -- and invites neurohacker Christian Bayerlein onto the TED stage to fly a mind-controlled drone by using a biosensing headset.