Brain-Computer Interface Smashes Previous Record for Typing Speed - Imagining writing-by-hand is faster than imagining moving a cursor in new BCI system

[Chouffleur]

Quote

The ancient art of handwriting has just pushed the field of brain-computer interface (BCI) to the next level. Researchers have devised a system that allows a person to communicate directly with a computer from his brain by imagining creating handwritten messages. The approach enables communication at a rate more than twice as fast as previous typing-by-brain experiments. 

 

Of course you *will* need to know how to handwrite. ;-)

 

https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/devices/braincomputer-interface-smashes-previous-record-for-typing-speed

[txomsy]

That's an oxymoron.

 

If you look for something that tries to apply the wrong approach to the wrong problem, then you are bound to find wrong conclusions. That anybody could think that designing an experiment in this way was a good idea is a proof they had no idea what they were looking for, or that they had too clear an idea what they wanted to find.

 

Writing is not the issue. The issue is permanent communication. You could record brain patterns and reproduce them and get an infinitely more efficient approach, just let people think. If, in addition, you also want permanent, compatible, computer-independent communication, then writing may arguably be a good idea.

 

If you are to intercept "writing", there are many kinds. Hand writing is one. Moving a cursor with a mouse over a virtual keyboard we all know is terribly inefficient, no need for BCI to test that. Intercepting the mechanics of typing on a keyboard might be competitive with hand writing. Using vocal patterns would likely be even faster yet (we can often speak faster than we type and often subvocalize as we type). But even better, intercepting known word-associated brain patterns would even do away with any simulated writing.

 

Point is, interesting as it may sound, they have chosen very primitive interfaces to investigate, and the ones they have were clearly doomed from the beginning to end up with these results.