Dial ‘T’ For Phone Call: Thought Enabled Dialing System

For all you X-Men fans, a technology have been successfully tested which just resembles like an idea in the famed series of mutants. Everybody knows what Professor Charles Francis Xavier is empowered with. He is not only the world’s most powerful telepath, a capable astral projector, illusion caster, memory manipulator and can give psychic blasts, but what sets him class apart are his mind controlling powers. Imagine what could happen if you can get even a small iota of his super natural powers!

#-Link-Snipped-#The researchers at University of California have successfully demonstrated that you can use your thoughts to control things to some extent. They have used a system employing electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes which are embedded in a strap which is attached to the scalp of the user. What they have done is an EEG headband is connected via Bluetooth module to a Nokia E73 mobile. Now the user has to look at a screen which flashed the numbers at various frequencies (“1” at 9HZ, “2” at 9.25 Hz and so on). If you want to dial a specific number, you just have to look it and think about it strongly. The electrode strap attached to your forehead detects the signals generated in your brain for each number and transmits the data to the phone. In a nutshell, the system detects the number at which one looks at and intends to dial. The innovative visual feedback system led to astonishing results. 10 people were asked to try out the dialing system and surprisingly, 7 out of them could dial a 10 digit number without any hiccups!

The accuracy levels vary from person to person, according to the developer Tzyy-Ping Jung, a researcher at the Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego. Tzyy-Ping Jung and his colleagues are not satisfied that their invention is touted to be a big boost for disabled people only. He says that they are keeping a larger population in various fields in mind for putting to use their latest gadget. Use of visually controlled techniques has not been new. But what these people have done that they have demonstrated that to get the best out of such similar technologies, you don’t need high end and sophisticated instruments. Cheap and simple is the new mantra!

A similar kind of concept was presented by Rajeev Raizada, a cognitive neuroscientist at Dartmouth College. He had titled it “Neurophone” and this device used P300, a kind of brain signal. The signal is triggered when a person concentrates on something and is a result of different stimuli in the brain. What makes the Neurophone to get a lower score is that it required longer training periods for the newbie to get adapted to it. The Bluetooth enabled system by Tzyy-Ping Jung is easy to get acquainted with and can be mastered in a relatively shorter time.

Skeptics believe that even though the system could be useful in many ways, the real challenge lies in devising newer methods to make the system work with smart phones having smaller displays. They say that differentiating the numbers on a smaller screen won’t be easy for the current technology. For now, the device has been demonstrated with wider screens with large numbers. Whatever it may be, but the technology is surely going to galvanize the world. Presently, the applications could be limited to hands free use of cell phones and laptops or detection of drowsy drivers and traffic controllers. But there is a large group of people waiting to see how this technology is put to use in the gaming industry… For now keep thinking!

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