Control a computer with only your brain

Andrew Junker, Ph.D., Founder of Brain Actuated Technologies

The Brainfingers system, also known as Cyberlink, shatters barriers in human-technology interaction by operating as a more direct interface between the user and the computer. The system has eleven channels, or virtual ‘fingers,’ that convert electrical signals across a spectrum of frequencies emanating from the brain into digitized control inputs so that individuals with disabilities can operate on-screen keyboards, AAC devices, educational software, word processors, and other applications. In some cases, Brainfingers has proven the only way to “unlock” communication from persons who have no ability to control their body or vocal cords.

Some of the Brainfinger outputs are controlled by the impulses produced by lateral eye and small facial muscle movements. Even more intriguingly, seven of the outputs are controlled with the alpha and beta brainwave activity that accompany natural cognition. Andrew explains,

The software has two parts to it. One is the training part; the other is thelaunch part. The training part teaches people to bring under conscious control signals from their forehead, the launch part allows them to use these controls to trigger computer events…this gives them access to every event in the computer—every key of the keyboard, every mouse event. So with Brainfingers they can potentially control any third party software that runs on their PC. This is a very liberating possibility for individuals with disabilities.

On Design

Much of the design of Brainfingers lies in Andrew’s expertise in measuring impulses at the surface of the skin, which then allow him to infer cognitive processes. However, the operant principle that makes the system truly effective is the concept of feedback (a part of the output returned to a system as input). Feedback is the very basis for sensing, assessing, and modifying variables relating to performance. For persons with severe disabilities, this feedback loop is often open: there is a loss of contact and information. This is a deficiency that Brainfingers effectively resupplies. As Andrew explains,

If you know the dynamics of a system, you can then put the appropriate loop closure or feedback around it to improve its performance, like a carburetor vacuum line on an engine that stabilizes its performance. In a sense, that’s the power of Brainfingers. Some people with cerebral palsy, ALS, or brain injuries start to reconnect. They often can achieve a control that people didn’t think was possible. It’s all about feedback, giving people something useful so that they can then feel connected

Unique Aspects Of The CompanyWhile most other brainwave researchers are interested in measuring impulses all over the head, often to map spatial voltage variances across hemispheres, Andrew explains he is interested in the interface that occurs at the forehead—one that can lead into nearly infinite insights and possibilities. As both a researcher and yoga instructor, he explains that this stretch of anatomical real estate can provide an electrical representation of,

…the interaction of the brain and the body. We’re all trying to go through life achieving some balance in our interactions. People with disabilities are also trying to achieve that, too.

Impact Of The Technology Interaction

What people with the most severe physical disabilities and brain injuries can attain using Brainfingers can be phenomenal. Andrew indicates that the system can be used to control computer events within minutes because of our fundamentally similar forehead brain-body electrical patterns. However, for many persons with disabilities,

The balance point has been shifted. Their body is operating, say, with different muscle tension, and so on. So the wonderful thing about Brainfingers is that it’s giving them an internal view, through visual and auditory feedback. It’s feedback as to what’s going on inside of them. Often they’re getting this feedback in a way they’ve never experienced before.

This restoration of feedback and natural control over environment and communications can result in markedly increased motivation, and, for some, in greater body control—stability of the head and better posture, for instance. In one remarkable case, the use of Brainfingers by a woman with a severe brain stem injury enabled her to regain the ability to move her arms, then to interact with her young daughter again through control of an on-screen keyboard. In a way, Andrew’s technology turns users into researchers.