Shaun McGorry Executive Briefing July 16, 2009

Introduction: Robotics  Robots are becoming increasingly present in our daily lives  Robot: a virtual or mechanical artificial agent; usually an electro-mechanical system which, by its appearance or movements, conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its ownvirtualmechanicalartificialelectro-mechanical systemintentagency  Robotics: coined by Isaac Asimov; the science and technology of robots, and their design, manufacture, and application

Introduction: Mind-Machine Interface  Brain-computer interface (BCI): sometimes called a direct neural interface or a mind- machine interface, is a direct communication pathway between a brain and an external device  Aimed at assisting, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions  Following discussion: short overview of the history of robotics, details possible applications of this technology, and explores the different research that is taking place involving the mind- machine interface

History of Robotics  Autonomous machines only appeared in the 20th century  Unimate : 1st digitally operated and programmable robot; installed in 1961 to lift hot pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them Unimate  Research on mind-machine interfaces (BCIs) began in the 1970s at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) under a grant from the National Science Foundation followed by a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)University of California Los AngelesNational Science FoundationDARPA  The field has since blossomed spectacularly, mostly toward neuroprosthetics applications that aim at restoring damaged hearing, sight and movement

History of Robotics

Applications Civilian ApplicationsMilitary Applications  search and rescue  exploration  construction and repair projects in environments ranging from under water to outer space  fighting forest fires  hazardous waste clean-up  unmanned sea, air and ground weapons platforms that mirror the controller’s intent without the need for brain wave sensors or nerve connections  fighter jet cockpit controls that mirror the pilot’s intent without the need for brain sensors or nerve connections  AttacArmor (All Terrain Tactical Armor)

Applications Both Civilian and Military  high-speed telecommunications systems and remote switching devices that cannot be jammed, intercepted, or limited by time or distance  biometrics to locate and identify individuals  encryption based on mental intention and unique patterns of influence

Company Research

Interchange Laboratories  California Corporation whose purpose is to develop and continually improve a non-invasive, non-contact mind-machine interface technology as well as related control and training methods  Mind-Machine Interface System effectively mirrors a person's intent with no connections to the body, or physiological sensors  Time and distance are no barriers and unlike radio waves, human mental influence of the MMIP cannot be intercepted or jammed  Early stages of development; now at the stage where it is powerful enough to drive a video game application over the internet

Honda  Honda Research Institute, Japan, has demonstrated a Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) that enables a user to control an ASIMO robot using nothing more than thoughtASIMO  Wearing a headset the user simply imagines moving either his right hand, left hand, tongue or feet - and ASIMO makes a corresponding movement  System is still huge and slow, and the commands are quite crude and imprecise  The next step is to refine the system to work with fine motor controls, add the ability to decode non- motor brain signals and speed it all up

Honda

Toyota  Researchers at Toyota have unveiled an advanced brain sensing system that controls the movement of a wheelchair by reading a user's thoughts alone  By processing patterns in brain waves, the system can propel a wheelchair forward, as well as make turns, with virtually no discernable delay between thought and movement  An accuracy rate of 95% was achieved

Summary  The Force, it appears, may be with us sooner than expected  Non-invasive, safe technology must become more refined and precise  Once this happens, imagination is the only limit  But if the recent run of mind-bending success in this field is any indication, the big breaks can come faster than expected

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