Intel joins the search for technology to operate devices through thought

The people of the company are working with scientists at Carnegie Mellon University to decipher the behavior patterns of the brain, in order to promote the subject. Pomerleau, an Intel researcher

The processor giant Intel (Intel) has joined a trend that was once part of science fiction: the ability to allow people to operate computers, televisions and mobile phones using only their thoughts.

"If we could access the World Wide Web using only our thoughts, this would open up an incredible range of great opportunities for computing technology," said Dean Pomerleau, an Intel researcher at the company's Pittsburgh lab. Pomerleau's team members are working with scientists at Carnegie Mellon University to decipher the brain's behavior patterns, in order to advance the subject.

Scientists have already identified patterns of behavior in the brain, which can be read using special computer programs, by analyzing the electrical activity in the brain and analyzing the blood flow when people think, speak or perform certain actions. This breakthrough opened up new research horizons for building some interesting applications.

In several experiments conducted recently among paralyzed people, components including "mind readers" were installed, allowing them to change channels on television, turn lights on and off, and type on the computer - just by thinking about these actions.

Although this technology raises concerns about the violation of privacy, several companies are already engaged in its development, due to the economic potential inherent in it. San Francisco-based Emotiv Systems has developed headphones that allow wearers to play video games by thinking, instead of using a joystick. Last year, Honda unveiled a robot whose arm is controlled by a person's thoughts. The car manufacturer said that the technology, which is now in its infancy, will one day allow drivers with their hands busy to open the car door or the trunk lid - with the power of thought.

The United States Army is also interested in developing the field. In 2008, he awarded three universities a $4 million budget to study how brain waves work when they send transmitters to organs to make them work. The army hopes that "the research will provide it with revolutionary technologies for silent communication". This will be done by a "thought helmet", which will contain sensors that pick up electronic pulses from the brain and record them.

However, some of the scientists, including Dr. Jerry Xia, who specializes in neuroscience at the Mayo Clinic in California, believe that faster and clearer reading of thoughts can replace the sensors that are currently inserted into the skulls, as part of the method by which they managed to make people write on a computer with the power of thought . According to Dr. Shea, the day is not far when chips similar to those produced by Intel for personal computers will be implanted in the human brain.

Pomerleau emphasized that Intel is not close to producing thought-oriented products, and has no plans to implant chips in humans. The purpose of the research, he said, is to build better chips, and in any case - it is better to send instructions of thoughts to the devices, through the medium of some portable device, such as a mobile phone.