Though it may sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, researchers at the University of Washington have successfully sent brain signals between two humans using noninvasive technology and the Internet.
University of Washington researchers Rajesh Rao and Andrea Stocco tested a "human-to-human brain interface" that uses the Internet to bridge brain signals.
In the experiment, Rao and Stocco were situated on different sides of the university's campus. Using what the university described as "electrical brain recordings and a form of magnetic stimulation," Rao's thought was recorded via an EEG machine and the brain signal was sent over the Internet to Stocco. The transmission caused Stocco, who was wearing "a magnetic stimulation coil" over a specific part of his brain, to involuntarily move his right index finger on a keyboard. As explained in the video above, the movement was like the feeling of a nervous tic.
"It was both exciting and eerie to watch an imagined action from my brain get translated into actual action by another brain," Rao said, in a news release. "This was basically a one-way flow of information from my brain to his. The next step is having a more equitable two-way conversation directly between the two brains."
The University of Washington researchers' work is notable since it showed human-to-human brain interfacing. In the past, Duke University researchers have achieved brain-to-brain communication between two rats; and Harvard researchers have achieved the communication between a human and a rat.
But while it's startling to consider the technology's potential, researchers are cautious.
"I think some people will be unnerved by this because they will overestimate the technology," researcher Chantel Prat said, in a news release. "There's no possible way the technology that we have could be used on a person unknowingly or without their willing participation."
Also, the technology can't exactly read a person's thoughts, only certain "simple brain signals."
So what would this brain-to-brain interface be used for? The researchers imagine someday it could help a flight attendant or passenger land an airplane if the pilot can't, or it could help a person with a disability better communicate wishes for food or water.
Images: Rajesh Rao and Andrea Stocco, University of Washington