WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Other than a very vocal minority, most people agree that a mouse and keyboard 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:09.200 is the superior way to play games. But what if you're unable to use a mouse and keyboard? 00:00:09.200 --> 00:00:12.520 Well, there are many accessibility-focused products out there, 00:00:12.520 --> 00:00:17.160 like Microsoft's Adaptive Controller. But what if you're unable to use even those? 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:20.520 Well, you could always just control the computer 00:00:20.520 --> 00:00:24.280 using your mind. But hold your horses, X-Men fans. 00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:29.360 No one's going full Professor X anytime soon. But the future is looking bright 00:00:29.360 --> 00:00:34.400 and we have BCIs or Brain Computer Interfaces to thank. 00:00:34.400 --> 00:00:38.440 And of course, yes, our body is sort of already 00:00:38.440 --> 00:00:44.360 a brain-to-computer interface. But the problem is that our fleshy meat bags 00:00:44.360 --> 00:00:50.120 can be somewhat unreliable. If someone doesn't have full control of their arms or legs, 00:00:50.120 --> 00:00:55.720 using a computer can be very difficult, more so if you also have difficulty speaking. 00:00:55.720 --> 00:01:01.880 So that's why the work that scientists are doing on building hardware to allow people with physical impairments 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:06.880 to control computer devices with their minds is so important. 00:01:06.880 --> 00:01:10.640 But how on earth does that work? Well, here's the thing. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.640 The human brain already communicates with the body 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:16.680 via nerve impulses, which are electrical impulses 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:22.080 that travel all throughout your body so that your hands can crack open a can of Mountain Dew 00:01:22.080 --> 00:01:25.480 to quench your thirst during a late night frag sash 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:30.680 or whatever else it is that you do in your spare time. These electrical impulses can be measured 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:34.000 by numerous different types of specialized technology, 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.440 but the most common due to its low cost and ease of use 00:01:37.440 --> 00:01:41.080 is electroencephalography or EEG. 00:01:41.080 --> 00:01:45.360 Now EEG uses multiple tiny electrodes placed on your scalp 00:01:45.360 --> 00:01:49.720 to measure the small amount of voltage that your neurons output. 00:01:49.720 --> 00:01:54.400 These readings are unique to the parts of your brain that are activated during a given task. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:58.960 So let's say that you're speaking. That uses different parts of the brain 00:01:58.960 --> 00:02:03.520 than visualizing an image or moving a body part or reading. 00:02:03.520 --> 00:02:07.040 These thoughts and actions have unique activity signatures 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:11.280 that can be identified by the EEG. So with a little bit of help 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:17.400 from our good friend, machine learning, we can train a computer to recognize a particular signature 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:21.920 and then have it correspond to a specific function on a device. 00:02:21.920 --> 00:02:26.560 A great example of this was an early BCI called the P300 Speller, 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:30.160 which allowed patients to type messages using their minds 00:02:30.160 --> 00:02:35.800 so they could better communicate with others. It worked by flashing the rows and columns 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:40.400 of a matrix of letters while the user focused on the letter they wanted to type. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:46.240 When the letter the user wanted to type flashed, a unique pattern of brain activity called the P300, 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:49.920 hence the name, occurred, which would then be detected by the EEG, 00:02:49.920 --> 00:02:55.640 prompting the computer to type the letter. Nowadays, those very same concepts are being used 00:02:55.640 --> 00:02:58.880 to do things as complex as flying drones 00:02:58.880 --> 00:03:03.960 or controlling prosthetic limbs, but the really exciting stuff is yet to come. 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:08.200 I mean, imagine being able to access information on the internet with just a thought, 00:03:08.200 --> 00:03:12.160 no more shouting, hey, G-O-O-G-L-E, 00:03:12.160 --> 00:03:15.720 only to have your phone or your Google Home ignore you. 00:03:15.720 --> 00:03:19.680 Instead, the information could be at your brain tips 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:23.960 instead of your fingertips. Or imagine being able to write out your thoughts 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:31.320 exactly the way that you envision them on the page or even create images from ideas that you have in your head 00:03:31.320 --> 00:03:36.360 without ever needing to draw them. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. 00:03:36.360 --> 00:03:40.400 Tech entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk has even taken notice of BCIs 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:44.680 and has founded a company called Neuralink with the goal of augmenting human intelligence 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:48.280 with machines so that humans don't become completely obsolete 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:53.960 in the face of the artificial intelligence future. Wow, Mr. Musk, that sounds great. 00:03:53.960 --> 00:03:58.680 He wants to use a technology called Neuralace that would actually wrap around the brain 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:01.720 and allow it to send and receive data from a computer. 00:04:01.720 --> 00:04:05.400 Now, obviously something like that is a long way 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:11.040 from hitting the mass market, but it may not also be as far away as you might think. 00:04:11.040 --> 00:04:15.880 There are already commercial products on the market that you, yes you, can purchase. 00:04:15.880 --> 00:04:19.800 Companies like NeuroSky have released some relatively cheap BCI products 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:24.240 that you can use to manipulate apps on your phone or your tablet, and they also manufactured 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:27.280 a popular Star Wars force trainer toy 00:04:27.280 --> 00:04:30.280 that allows you to be able to approximate using the force 00:04:30.280 --> 00:04:34.360 without any pesky midichlorians. There's also the Emotive Epoch, 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:38.400 a more prosumer grade option that can track your brain with even morphinus, 00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:41.760 and that one's been used in the drone races that we mentioned earlier. 00:04:41.760 --> 00:04:45.800 There's finally a mind-controllable VR game and development right now being created 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:50.120 by the company NeuroBull, and it actually uses the P300 signature 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:54.920 just like the old spelling machine. Oh, P300s, they grow up so fast. 00:04:55.840 --> 00:04:59.280 So while brain-computer interface technology is still in its infancy, 00:04:59.280 --> 00:05:04.680 this could be the next massive paradigm shift in how we interact with technology and each other. 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:09.240 Or with that said, it could also just be another hyped up disappointment like Fallout 76. 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:13.600 So thanks for watching, guys. Like, dislike, leave a comment. 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