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Change TV channels or send SMS by thought Main Article page | Science articles Health page| Disease articles | Links
One could soon be able to change a television channel by thinking or send a text message composed through thought, all thanks to Japanese scientists, who are developing a new generation of consumer electronics devices that can read a user's mind and automatically respond to their wishes. Tomoo Yamauchi, director of the Research and Development Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, said that a consortium of Japanese companies, research institutes and the government is working on the gadgets, which could be on the market in as little as a decade. The devices would use advanced versions of existing brain-machine interface (BMI) technology, he said. "We already have BMI machines through which an operator can make a robot carry out an action, such as moving an arm or lifting a leg. We also have the technology for a person to think of a number and that number be recorded by the machine," the Telegraph quoted Yamauchi as saying. "The challenge now is to simplify the existing systems and make the equipment smaller before it can be made commercially available," he added. Taking brain-machine interfaces a step further, the system would be able to sense when a person is too hot or cold and adjust the heating in a room, said Yamauchi. And there is even the possibility that a car navigation system in the future will be able to recognise the driver's hunger pangs and plot a course to the nearest restaurant, he said. "In the early stages of this technology, we believe that we will be able to help elderly people or the physically challenged, those with problems walking or using their hands. But to make a system that is commercially acceptable, we need to simplify the system dramatically and try to find a way to do without the helmet," added Yamauchi. - Agencies / Yahoo News
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