X-Message-Number: 22274
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 00:29:15 -0700
From: Kennita Watson <>
Subject: mind-controlled wheelchair -- it's a beginning...

LONDON (Reuters) Jul 23 - Swiss and Spanish scientists are
developing a mind-controlled wheelchair that could one day
give severely paralysed patients new independence.

The system will use electrodes embedded in a skullcap worn
by the patient to transmit messages from the brain to a
computer that passes them on to the chair through a wireless
link.

"Early trials using a robot indicate that with just two
days' training it is as easy to control the robot with the
human mind as it is manually," New Scientist magazine said
on Wednesday.

The system has been designed by Jose Millan of the Dalle
Molle Institute for Perceptual Artificial Intelligence in
Martigny, Switzerland, scientists at the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology in Lausanne and the Centre for
Biomedical Engineering Research in Barcelona.

The scientists are testing the system with a simple,
wheeled robot using commands to turn left, right or go
forward. It also includes in-built intelligence to ensure
  the robot does not collide with anything.

"The team is now trying to increase the number of mental
states that its system can recognise," the magazine added.

If all goes well, Millan believes it will be the first
mind-controlled system able to operate something as
complicated as a wheelchair.
-- 
May you live long and prosper,
Kennita
--
Kennita Watson          | Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
     |   None but ourselves can free our minds.
http://www.kennita.com  |           -- Bob Marley, "Redemption Song"

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