[Sosfbay-discuss] Mind-Machine Interface: It's the Thought that Counts

[Tian Harter]

*>
 >Stanley Yang*
 >
*>Mind-Machine Interface: It’s the Thought that Counts*
 >
 >
 >Stanley Yang is CEO of NeuroSky, a San Jose based startup developing
 >technology that monitors a person’s brain waves and uses the signals as
 >inputs to control the action in video games and other applications.
 >NeuroSky’s system prototype uses a low cost sensor-laden headband
 >to gather signals from the brain and a special processing chip to 
interpret
 >the signals.
 >
 >Stanley will describe the technology behind the mind-machine interface
 >and discuss the broad range of possible applications, such as 
entertainment
 >and driving safety systems, that NeuroSky is targeting.
 >

Stanley began his talk by saying he had spent the whole day fielding
questions about his companies technology yesterday. NPR had done
a segment on the company, so he should be ready for any questions
that might come up. He is also proud that NeuroSky got a "Best of
Show" award at Stanford's Cool Stuff Expo, when kids had been lined
up steadily to try it out.

Then Stanley explained that NeuroSky's product is a headset with a
single dry sensor (no gels) that touches the wearer's skin on the fore-
head, two ground contacts near the ears, and a chip that sorts the five
microvolt signals the human brain puts out from the ambient noise that
is all around us. This signal is then fed into a computer via a USB cable,
where it can be interpreted in any way that a user's application needs.
He showed us an FFT plot of the signal response of NeuroSky's headset
side by side with that of a laboratory quality sensor. We could see that
the plots were similar, but the professional model had a slight signal
response advantage. Stanley explained that NeuroSky's advantage was
that it was easy to put on and the connections were dry, a major
convenience enhancement.

Then Johnny demonstrated the product. It was a headband with two
metal dots about two-thirds the size of a dime built in above the eyes,
and a couple more hanging down the back that he taped to the skin
under his ears. There was also a box that looked like a battery pack
at the back, and a computer cable coming out. He plugged that into
his laptop and brought up a display where meters were able to track
anxiety, relaxation, and attention. A couple of members of the
audience also tried it. The one who had been meditating for seven
years was able to peg the relaxation meter, and the other one had
trouble not having the attention meter high.

Stanley explained that NeuroSky's business model involved just selling
the sensor setup, and leaving the applications to other people. At this
point he is working with videvideo game companies that want to sell a user
unit for about $49.95 to add more three dimensional qualities to games.
Also in the works are safety applications like a headset for garment
workers that will turn off their sewing machine if they start getting
sleepy. He knew of many people who wouldn't have sewn their thumbs
if such equipment had been there for them. There are similar
opportunities to protect truck drivers. Other customers are looking into
lie detector, airport security, and military type applications. He is
optimistic about the future.

During Q&A the following were discussed:

If somebody thinks of a color, it creates the same waveform pattern,
regardless of the culture or language that person uses.

One relm of applications for the product is helping train people with
ADD on how to relax. Today such people have to go into a doctor's
office to get feedback training. There they have a nurse rub salve on
their skin and glue instrumentation in place. NeuroSky's technology
is much more convienient, and it does almost as good a job. This makes
home based self study an option.

Most of the proprietary advantages of NeuroSky's come from the
circuits in the chips that amplify the brain signal and seperate it from
ambient noise.

-- 
Tian
http://tian.greens.org
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