Thinking cap to control devices

FORGET the remote control: a new device in Japan could let you control electronic devices without lifting a finger simply by reading brain activity.

The “brain-machine interface” developed by Hitachi Inc analyses slight changes in the brain’s blood flow and translates brain activity into electric signals.

A cap connects by optical fibres to a mapping device, which links to a toy train set via a control computer and motor during one recent demonstration at Hitachi’s Advanced Research Laboratory in Hatoyama, just outside Tokyo.

“Take a deep breath and relax,” said Kei Utsugi, a researcher.

The toy train immediately sprang forward along the tracks — apparently indicating activity in the brain’s frontal cortex, which handles problem-solving. Activating that region of the brain, by doing sums or singing a song, is what makes the train run.

“It’s really fun to move a model train just by thinking,” said Hitachi project leader, Hideaki Koizumi.

Hitachi’s scientists are set to develop a brain TV remote controller letting users turn a TV on and off or switch channels by only thinking.