Are we close to making human ‘mind control’ a reality?
With one tap on his space bar, Andrea Stocco fires the cannon on his computer game and blows a rocket out of the sky.
What is remarkable is the way it is being played because the University of Washington researcher can't actually see it.With one tap on his space bar, Andrea Stocco fires the cannon on his computer game and blows a rocket out of the sky.He is wearing a cap with wires coming out of it (which looks like something you might have seen in a 1950s sci-fi programme that was imagining this moment).
Without moving a muscle, or using a communication device, Mr Rao told his colleague to fire the cannon at just the right moment.
The only thing Mr Rao had was the power of his mind, so, at the right moment, he imagined firing the cannon.
This sent a signal via the internet to Mr Stocco, who, wearing noise-cancelling earphones (and a purple swimming cap) involuntarily moved his right index finger to push the space bar.
Imperius curse
What has just happened seems to be the first documented case of human-to-human "mind control".The researchers gave it the rather less alluring title of human-to-human brain interface, but that's scientists for you.
Those of a wizarding persuasion will see parallels with the evil Voldemort's Imperius curse, used to manipulate people in the Harry Potter stories.
Mr Stocco jokingly refers to the experiment as a "Vulcan mind meld", after a technique employed by Mr Spock in Star Trek to share thoughts.
"The internet was a way to connect computers, and now it can be a way to connect brains," Mr Stocco says.
He compares the feeling of his hand moving to that of a nervous tic.
Mr Rao says it was "both exciting and eerie" to watch an imagined action from his brain get translated into actual action by another brain.
"The next step is having a more equitable two-way conversation directly between the two brains," he adds.
Brain activity
There are already numerous examples of the human brain being used to control technology.For example, Samsung is experimenting with a mind-control tablet.
Technology firm Interaxon is marketing a "brain sensing headband" that it hopes will allow people to control devices with their minds.
It is already widely used to help those with physical disabilities.
Indeed the technology for recording and stimulating the two researchers' brains in this experiment are both well-known.
Brain signals from the "Sender" are
recorded. When the computer detects imagined hand movements, a "fire"
command is transmitted over the internet, causing an upward movement of
the hand of the "Receiver"
Electroencephalography - the technique used to send the message from
Mr Rao - is routinely used by the medical profession to record brain
activity from the scalp. Transcranial magnetic stimulation - which made Mr Stocco's finger move - is a way of delivering stimulation to the brain to prompt a response.
But putting the two together, effectively allowing one person to direct the responses of another, is new.
'Trivial'
The researchers are quick to point out that this experiment is very basic in terms of the concept.But Daniel Wilson, who has a PhD in robotics and is the author of Robopocalypse, says it remains important as a "proof of concept" experiment.
"It has sparked a discussion of how brain-to-brain interfaces might impact society in the future," he says.
"Although the experimental set-up is too narrow to have practical value, it certainly makes us think."
However, others are unimpressed.
Dr Ian Pearson, a futurologist with a background in science and engineering, compares it to experiments by Australian performance artist Stelarc 15 years ago.
He enabled people to remote control his limbs via the internet.
"Adding a simple thought recognition control system is pretty trivial," Dr Pearson says.
"If they were taking a thought from one person and directly creating a thought in another then I'd be impressed."
Collaboration
There is more general agreement on the impact that future developments in this field could have on the way humans collaborate and communicate.Mr Stocco says that one day it could be used to enable someone on the ground to help a passenger land an aeroplane if the pilot becomes incapacitated.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation - which made Mr Stocco's finger move - is a way of delivering stimulation to the brain to prompt a response.
But putting the two together, effectively allowing one person to direct the responses of another, is new.
'Trivial'
The researchers are quick to point out that this experiment is very basic in terms of the concept.But Daniel Wilson, who has a PhD in robotics and is the author of Robopocalypse, says it remains important as a "proof of concept" experiment.
"It has sparked a discussion of how brain-to-brain interfaces might impact society in the future," he says.
"Although the experimental set-up is too narrow to have practical value, it certainly makes us think."
However, others are unimpressed.
Dr
Ian Pearson, a futurologist with a background in science and
engineering, compares it to experiments by Australian performance artist
Stelarc 15 years ago.Dr Pearson believes these techniques will be used in the future by teams carrying out complex tasks
He enabled people to remote control his limbs via the internet."Adding a simple thought recognition control system is pretty trivial," Dr Pearson says.
"If they were taking a thought from one person and directly creating a thought in another then I'd be impressed."
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