UCL in the News: Virtual world sharpens mind-control

One team, from the Graz University of Technology in Austria, specialises in measuring signals from the brain, via electrodes or implants. The other, from UCL, UK, focuses on building highly immersive virtual reality worlds.

The two groups came together through a European consortium called PRESENCCIA. The goal is to create a virtual world through which a person can navigate using just their imagination. …

The system can be trained to identify the distinctive patterns of neuronal activity produced when they imagine walking forwards, or think about moving either their left or right arm. These thoughts can then be used to navigate or make an on-screen character, or avatar, move forwards or turn left or right. …

After having a healthy volunteer test the system, the researchers asked a man paralysed almost entirely from the neck down to try it out. …

"The patient loved it," says Doron Friedman [UCL Computer Science] …

"He said it was a great feeling to think about moving his feet and to actually 'move'."

Friedman notes that virtual reality is becoming a popular tool for physical or psychological rehabilitation, and says the new system could offer novel possibilities. …

Will Knight, NewScientist.com