Bouncing Red Ball

In what might be a glimpse of the exciting possibilities of future robotics, Honda (Honda Research Institute - Japan) and ATR (Advanced Telecommunications Research International) unveiled today an Asimo that can be controlled by mind power alone.

Using their jointly-developed Brain Machine Interface, which uses EEG (electroencephalography) and NIRS (near-infrared spectroscopy) to measure electrical impulses in the brain, and employing an information-sifting technique to evaluate the resulting brain image, the two companies demonstrated that mechanical robots like Asimo can be controlled by thought alone — without pushing a button or flicking a switch.

In a demonstration, a volunteer was fitted with EEG and NIRS sensor and asked to choose among “right hand”, “left hand”, “feet” and “tongue” by only visualizing the image of his choice. The brain activity transmitted through brain waves and blood flow was then measured and processed in real time and Asimo moved according to the volunteer’s wish.

The Brain Machine Interface has over 90% accuracy according to its developers.

Future applications of the technology is not only limited to remotely controlling robots, but may also be used in aiding handicapped people to move using robotic frames fitted on the body.

Honda says its Brain Machine Interface functions by simply fitting a sensory device on the scalp and differs from similar so-called invasive types that is developed in the US and Europe that use surgery to embed electrodes in the brain.

{via Mycom and Asahi}

Related posts:

1. The world’s first flower-shaped robot
2. La Machine’s spiders in Yokohama: videos
3. Wakamaru debuts in a play while Paro goes to Denmark
4. In Japan, robots are going to replace Santa soon
5. La Machine: Ginormous mechanical spiders to wreck havoc on Tokyo and Yokohama