Brainy Communicator Project

The Singaporean Society for the Physically Disabled & Institute of Infocomm Research developed a brain interface to control the computer using neuroscience methods. Their aim is to provide a thought-reading solution for people with complete loss of limb movement.

Brainy Communicators work as most brain control devices by using electroencephalogram (EEG) technology, which receives signals from sensors placed on the head. A peak in brain activity can relate to the wish of selecting the object on the screen, in this case a keyboard with letters in cells in a pre-determined sequence. With this method the Brainy Communicator can get an accuracy of more than 95 percent in lab conditions.

Participants of the Brainy Communicator Research Project will be adults above 16 years with severe physical disabilities, mainly: those who suffer from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and tetraplegia. There are approximately 350,000 people worldwide who suffer from ALS and approximately 1 million tetraplegics that can keep the freedom to communicate with the computer with the Brainy Communicator.

Currently, people with mobility impairment can make use of voice recognition software or a mouth-controlled mouse. Anyone with a mobility and speech disability have other alternatives as well, like eye-control in combination with word prediction where over 75 words per minute can be typed versus the five that Brainy Communicator can reach at this stage.

The Brainy Communicator will have two to five working prototypes by the end of 2006, mainly sponsored by Samsung who supported them with $60,000 USD, which is one third of the needed budget for the next two years. After this, the institute hopes a manufacturer will commercialize the prototype and make it ready for the market.

Source: ALS from “Phytopharm commences phase 1 MND study.” East of England (January 2004) and Neurotrauma Registry