A brain-computer interface (BCI), sometimes called a neural-control interface (NCI), mind-machine interface (MMI), direct neural interface (DNI), or brain-machine interface (BMI), is a direct communication pathway between an enhanced or wired brain and an external device. BCI differs from neuromodulation in that it allows for bidirectional information flow. BCIs are often directed at researching, mapping, assisting, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions.

Neuroprosthetics is an area of neuroscience concerned with neural prostheses, that is, using artificial devices to replace the function of impaired nervous systems and brain-related problems, or of sensory organs or organs itself (bladder, diaphragm, etc). As of December 2010, cochlear implants had been implanted as neuroprosthetic device in approximately 220,000 people worldwide.

*Motor imagery-based Brain-Computer Interface robotic rehabilitation for stroke.
*Airborne Ultrasonic Tactile Display BCI
*Individual Finger Control of the Modular Prosthetic Limb using High-Density Electrocorticography in a Human Subject
*An Implanted BCI for Real-Time Cortical Control of Functional Wrist and Finger Movements in a Human with Quadriplegia
*Online adaptive brain-computer interface with attention variations

EMOTIV
http://www.emotiv.com/brain-controlled-technology/


6 Electronic Devices You Can Control with Your Thoughts
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-6-electronic-devices-you-can-control-with-your-thoughts/
From toys to mind monitoring, brain-computer interface options are already on the market


Star Wars Science Force Trainer ($35): This toy includes a wireless headset, ping-pong ball and a clear plastic tube with a fan beneath. As you concentrate, your brain activity turns up the fan so that it blows a ping-pong ball up a tube. Yoda's voice guides you: "Reach out with your feelings! Use The Force. Do or do not; there is no try."

Mindflex ($47): Mattel's game is another ball-in-an-air-column setup. This time the object is to guide the ball through hoops, hurdles, funnels and a seesaw. You control the fan power, and therefore the height of the foam ball, with your thoughts; you control the ball's horizontal movement through the course with a knob.

Mindflex Duel ($44): For about the same price, you can buy a two-headset version of the Mindflex. In some games, your concentration controls the fan strength—as in the original game; in others, it controls the lateral movement of the sliding fan, so that you and a buddy can have a kind of "think of war" battle.

Neural Impulse Actuator ($107): This "brain mouse" is marketed as a Windows game-playing accessory that lets you control game functions with your thoughts. You can assign it to trigger left-clicks, for example, or to make your character walk or shoot.

MindSet ($199): This $199 headset, from NeuroSky, is a traditional Bluetooth headset, suitable for Skype calls and so on. But it's also an EEG headset, a somewhat less frivolous one than the games described above. The software includes a simple "brain-wave monitor" app, but the real potential lies in the developer kit, which allows programmers to come up with their own MindSet-driven software.

EPOC ($299): Emotiv's $299 headset is the most serious consumer option yet. The wired headset has 16 contacts, and you're supposed to wet them with saline solution for better contact. As a result, the sensitivity is far superior to what you get from the dry-connection, single-contact headsets. The company includes a few starter games and monitors to get you going—but here again, the real promise is the software development kit.

NEUROSKY
http://store.neurosky.com/
***~~~***
Tetraplegic Matt Nagle became the first person to control an artificial hand using a BCI in 2005 as part of the first nine-month human trial of Cyberkinetics's BrainGate chip-implant. Implanted in Nagle's right precentral gyrus (area of the motor cortex for arm movement), the 96-electrode BrainGate implant allowed Nagle to control a robotic arm by thinking about moving his hand as well as a computer cursor, lights and TV. One year later, professor Jonathan Wolpaw received the prize of the Altran Foundation for Innovation to develop a Brain Computer Interface with electrodes located on the surface of the skull, instead of directly in the brain.

More recently, research teams led by the Braingate group at Brown University and a group led by University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, both in collaborations with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, have demonstrated further success in direct control of robotic prosthetic limbs with many degrees of freedom using direct connections to arrays of neurons in the motor cortex of patients with tetraplegia.

In 2014 and 2017, a BCI using functional near-infrared spectroscopy for "locked-in" patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was able to restore some basic ability of the patients to communicate with other people.

A 2019 study found that the application of evolutionary algorithms could improve EEG mental state classification with a non-invasive Muse (headband) device, enabling high quality classification of data acquired by a cheap consumer-grade EEG sensing device.

In 2020, researchers from the University of California used a computing system related to "brain-machine interfaces" (BMIs) to translate brainwaves into sentences. However, their decoding was limited to 30–50 sentences, even though the word error rates were as low as 3%.

In 2013, OpenBCI emerged from a DARPA solicitation and subsequent Kickstarter campaign. They created a high-quality, open-source 8-channel EEG acquisition board, known as the 32bit Board, that retailed for under $500. Two years later they created the first 3D-printed EEG Headset, known as the Ultracortex, as well as a 4-channel EEG acquisition board, known as the Ganglion Board, that retailed for under $100.

Ethical considerations
User-centric issues

*Long-term effects to the user remain largely unknown.
*Obtaining informed consent from people who have difficulty communicating.
*The consequences of BCI technology for the quality of life of patients and their families.
*Health-related side-effects (e.g. neurofeedback of sensorimotor rhythm training is reported to affect sleep quality).
*Therapeutic applications and their potential misuse.

Legal and social

*Issues of accountability and responsibility: claims that the influence of BCIs overrides free will and control over sensory-motor actions, claims that cognitive intention was inaccurately translated due to a BCI malfunction.
*Personality changes involved caused by deep-brain stimulation.
*Blurring of the division between human and machine and inability to distinguish between human vs. machine-controlled actions.
*Use of the technology in advanced interrogation techniques by governmental authorities.
*Selective enhancement and social stratification.
*Questions of research ethics that arise when progressing from animal experimentation to application in human subjects.
*Mind reading and privacy.
*Mind control.
In their current form, most BCIs are far removed from the ethical issues considered above.

Low-cost BCI-based interfaces
*In 2006 Sony patented a neural interface system allowing radio waves to affect signals in the neural cortex.
*In 2007 NeuroSky released the first affordable consumer based EEG along with the game NeuroBoy. This was also the first large scale EEG device to use dry sensor technology.
*In 2008 OCZ Technology developed a device for use in video games relying primarily on electromyography.
*In 2008 Final Fantasy developer Square Enix announced that it was partnering with NeuroSky to create a game, Judecca.
*In 2009 Mattel partnered with NeuroSky to release the Mindflex, a game that used an EEG to steer a ball through an obstacle course. It is by far the best selling consumer based EEG to date.
*In 2009 Uncle Milton Industries partnered with NeuroSky to release the Star Wars Force Trainer, a game designed to create the illusion of possessing the Force .
*In 2009 Emotiv released the EPOC, a 14 channel EEG device that can read 4 mental states, 13 conscious states, facial expressions, and head movements. The EPOC is the first commercial BCI to use dry sensor technology, which can be dampened with a saline solution for a better connection.
*In November 2011 Time Magazine selected "necomimi" produced by Neurowear as one of the best inventions of the year. The company announced that it expected to launch a consumer version of the garment, consisting of cat-like ears controlled by a brain-wave reader produced by NeuroSky, in spring 2012.
*In February 2014 They Shall Walk (a nonprofit organization fixed on constructing exoskeletons, dubbed LIFESUITs, for paraplegics and quadriplegics) began a partnership with James W. Shakarji on the development of a wireless BCI.
*In 2016, a group of hobbyists developed an open-source BCI board that sends neural signals to the audio jack of a smartphone, dropping the cost of entry-level BCI to £20. Basic diagnostic software is available for Android devices, as well as a text entry app for Unity.
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain%E2%80%93computer_interface

Remote Control For Humans
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=483
BrainNet Social Network Of Brains
Rats Communicate Brain-to-Brain
Brain Interface Weapons War Crime Immunity
Humans Use Mental Power For Turtle Slavery
Drones Guided By The Mind Alone
Tetraplegics Dominate Avatar Races
BrainNet Triple Telepathic Gaming Threat

Controlling Drones With Your Mind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLjxMjBlB9k

How to control someone else's arm with your brain | Greg Gage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSQNi5sAwuc
LOL, phone sex will have a whole new meaning...

The Mind-Controlled Bionic Arm With a Sense of Touch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_brnKz_2tI

This Brain Implant Could Change Lives
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6oNoLWcDqw

Can we create new senses for humans? | David Eagleman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c1lqFXHvqI

science is based on science fiction

eventually the smart phone will die and man will become part machine

microsoft created a chat bot that people taught to be racist

so ethics are important now that the robots created done turn on us

beauty is not people or things neither is it in the eyes of the beholder yet
everybodies heart

I'd be a bit concerned about the shielding for electromagnetic radiation, especially with brain implants. Say getting close to 66.000 volts power lines, commercial radio transmission towers, microwaves, and even phones and C.B. radios and the like. A souped up C.B. 27 MHz can blast power up close.

Then other devices searching signals, gaining entry or monitoring, or scrambling encoding.
Power supplies - battery placement and charging.
Maintenance access.

Even external skin pads would be a pain to use, unless made into functional stylish head/body ware, wireless, and with tiny batteries.

I think not ready yet, though possible, equipment is still too clunky and not time tested, for becoming everyday consumer friendly 'must haves'.

Could be fun to play with though.

This technology is still in its infancy.
Like nearly all innovation the moral and social ramifications are speculated based on our own current concerns.
As the technology becomes more widespread it will mutate as it becomes more specific to its purpose.

Look at the automobile.
At first, it was hazardous to people and horses.
There were few laws compared to the laws we have now.
The social and ethical (and religious) concerns were different than those currently in place.
The automobile evolved to address concerns that did not exist when it first was developed and released.
Now we have self-driving cars and a whole new set of concerns govern its evolution.

This BCI technology stands to unlock the human potential and create a new definition to the concept of handicap.
The social and ethical (and religious) concerns right now will change as the technology further develops.
These concerns will shape the path this technology takes.
Safeguards will be implemented and people will find a way to circumvent them.
Just like any other regulated technology.

I believe the biggest hurdle is the fact humans don't fully understand our own minds.
Oh, we have a starting understanding on a specific set of examples from a regulated test group but our understanding of being human as a species wide concept is sorely lacking.
Just because 7 billion humans have brains doesn't mean they're all the same.
Plus, right now, a test subject has to be trained to use this technology.
If you buy one of these games, you have to learn how to use the technology before the technology will work.
Right now, it is very safe.

As this technology gets more wide spread people will innovate new uses for it in our daily lives.
As it becomes more commonplace, it will be more susceptible to perversion either by intent or by subconscious chaos.
Its difficult to speculate all the ways this technology could become a social, ethical or religious monster.

A hundred years ago a self-driving car was a 'run-away' car that killed or damaged property.
Few could imagine a world where they would exist on purpose.
Something to be feared, not embraced yet right now, self-driving cars are accepted and encouraged.
Plus the cars now have very little in common with the Model-T, yet they are based on the same concept but mutated.

This technology has the potential to greatly improve the human experience but it also has great potential for disaster.
Now is the time to initiate a code of ethics to protect and steer it development to ensure a positive result.
Yet, this code of ethics, this plan of development must have the ability to adapt to the changes that develop.
It can't be based on fears or social agendas.
It has to accurately predict the concerns of a technology which may not happen but has the potential to occur.
We have to 'out-think' its technological evolution.

To 'out-think' its technological potential we must first conceptualize the ways this technology might evolve over time.
These concepts must be put in an expected timeline and open to adjustment.
It does little good to create governing law to address far distant potentials yet those far distant potential must not be ignored.
Plus, the further from current you speculate the more the laws must be able to adapt.
So the laws on distant concepts must be easily superseded.

The social/ethical concerns require a certain amount of imaginative speculation but speculation that is reasonably predictable.
It does no good to speculate on or write laws concerning flying cars when we are not even close to that technology.
However, with mind-machine interface (MMI), technology is only part of the equation. We must also speculate on the human aspect.
We face similar concerns in the nanotechnology sciences.

The first step in such a plan must be to identify all the potential uses and perversions of the technology as it exist now and in the near future.
Then, those potential scenarios must be sorted into a timeline of possible evolutionary outcomes.
Then this timeline of potential outcomes must be sorted into a likelihood order.

When 3d printers first hit the mainstream there were concerns of easy gun manufacturing. Yet, 3d printers do not print guns. They might print the components of a gun but many do not do that because it's easier to just go buy a gun. You could print a knife but its easier to just go buy one.

Certain speculation of this technology will be similar to the 3d printer speculation. It could be done but few will actually do it.

I have a wireless printer. My neighbor has a wireless printer. She sent a print command to my printer by accident once. I didn't have my printer password protected. I set a password and it has never happened again.

If you purchase a MindFlex system and learn how to use it, it works for you.
If you teach your brother to play the same system using your system, it might work for him as well. The interface does not know its your brain controlling it. All it senses is a signal and reacts.
Ramp this up.
What prevents two people from activating each other's device?
A security feature needs to be implemented to 'password' protect your interface.
Cue the hackers.
Every security system has a potential to be hacked.

"Pairing"

Imagine you own a car with a remote starter on your key chain.
You are grocery shopping and as you are finishing you press the button to remote start your car.
You step out to the parking lot and all the cars are started.
This doesn't happen because your car and key chain signal are 'paired' to each other.

With BCI, the pairing is three-way.
You, your interface (headset) and the device it controls.
Without this pairing you could potentially control every device within range.
For a game, right now, its not that important but as the technology evolves it is a valid concern.

This opens a new concern for near future possible problems.
Imagine your headset controls multiple devices in your home on a network.
The signal uses wireless technology.
You can turn off your car alarm from your bedroom.
What if you could start your coffee pot from your bedroom?
Turn on your shower from your bedroom?
Turn on lights, TV, radio, oven, stove burners, etc...
What if your neighbor could too.
There needs to be a way to pair new devices to specific headsets/interfaces so only your devices work from your interface.
However, all new devices must be able to be paired to new owners and those devices must be able to be unpaired so they can be sold or given to other owners.

Imagine the technology advances to the point a special tattoo can be applied to your head which is the interface device.
Your car has no knobs or switches on the dash.
Lights, radio, turn signals, etc are turned off and on by your mind.
Your car is paired to you. Device selection is by conscious choice.
There will need to be safeguards in place to prevent unwanted subconscious commands from putting you or others in danger.
Plus, lets say you are starting your car on a cold morning and you think "car Start" and every device you have paired to you suddenly turns on?
There are glitches in all technology.
With BCI, those glitches have the potential to be fatal.