Basic brain reading technology developed

January 9, 2007

Technology that reads what people think by measuring changes in the brain's blood flow has been developed, said Japanese researchers.

Researchers at Hitachi's Advanced Research Laboratory said the technology could allow seriously ill and handicapped people to remotely operate electronic appliances as well as wheelchairs and other medical supplies, Mainichi Daily News said.

Researchers said the technology's basis is an optical topography system that irradiates benign near-infrared rays in a person's head, measuring how blood flow in the brains changes depending on what the person is thinking. The changes are shown as images, which are converted into electronic signals sent to remote controls of electronic appliances.

"We'd like to produce a prototype of a remote controller within a couple of years. We hope to use the results of our research on brain science to develop information technology that is friendly to people," researcher Hideaki Koizumi said.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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