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I controlled a robot arm with my brain, using this high-tech headset

I controlled a robot arm with my brain, using this high-tech headset

OpenBCI's headquarters is nestled in a giant building in South Williamsburg, home to all kinds of bakeries, labs, and other businesses. The lab was a bit of a maze to find, but inside, it's a delightful mess of computers, 3D printers, and machining tools — with an expansive view of Manhattan.

I controlled a robot arm with my brain, using this high-tech headset

The company 3D prints the headsets right there. Each one takes around 25-30 hours to make. This one was in progress when I visited:

The company 3D prints the headsets right there. Each one takes around 25-30 hours to make. This one was in progress when I visited:

Here's what the finished product — the "Ultracortex Mark III" — looks like. It's basically a helmet embedded with electrodes that pick up "EEG" (electroencephalogram) brain signals through your skull and send them to a circuitboard at the back. It looked like something straight out of "Back to the Future."

Here

Here's a closer look at the 32-bit circuitboard, the "brain" that converts the electrical activity from your brain cells into signals that can be read by a computer. The latest version is known as the "Ganglion."

Here

OpenBCI was founded by Conor Russomanno (now its CEO) and Joel Murphy (its president). Russomanno showed me how the headset can measure either brain signals (EEG) or face muscle signals (electromyogram, or EMG).

OpenBCI was founded by Conor Russomanno (now its CEO) and Joel Murphy (its president). Russomanno showed me how the headset can measure either brain signals (EEG) or face muscle signals (electromyogram, or EMG).

Just by blinking his eyes or wiggling his jaw, Russomanno showed me how he could modulate his brain activity.

Just by blinking his eyes or wiggling his jaw, Russomanno showed me how he could modulate his brain activity.

This is the software program he used to measure his brain waves, where each squiggle represents brain activity recorded by one electrode. Some people use this technology, which allows them to watch their brain activity change in real-time, to be more mindful.

This is the software program he used to measure his brain waves, where each squiggle represents brain activity recorded by one electrode. Some people use this technology, which allows them to watch their brain activity change in real-time, to be more mindful.

I was dying to try it out myself. So, I donned the headset and used my jaw muscles to control a robotic hand. When I clenched my jaw, the electrical signals from my muscles told the fingers to close. I felt like Iron(wo)man.

I was dying to try it out myself. So, I donned the headset and used my jaw muscles to control a robotic hand. When I clenched my jaw, the electrical signals from my muscles told the fingers to close. I felt like Iron(wo)man.

Here's a short video of Russomanno demonstrating the hand in action, only here, it's controlled by muscle signals from his arm:

Here

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What I saw next was truly incredible. A Canadian film producer used the headset to drive a remote-controlled helicopter up and down just by closing his eyes and trying to generate relaxed brainwaves called alpha signals. Here's a demo of someone flying the helicopter with his brain:

What I saw next was truly incredible. A Canadian film producer used the headset to drive a remote-controlled helicopter up and down just by closing his eyes and trying to generate relaxed brainwaves called alpha signals. Here

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In the future, the company plans to make a version of the headset that can send electricity into the brain as well as out of it, a technology known as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)...

In the future, the company plans to make a version of the headset that can send electricity into the brain as well as out of it, a technology known as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)...

You can buy the latest version of the headset, the Ultracortex Mark IV, for $350, and the Ganglion Board for $99. OpenBCI has raised more than $115,000 so far on Kickstarter, and hopes to reach a stretch goal of $160,000 by the time the campaign ends on December 18.

You can buy the latest version of the headset, the Ultracortex Mark IV, for $350, and the Ganglion Board for $99. OpenBCI has raised more than $115,000 so far on <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openbci/openbci-biosensing-for-everybody">Kickstarter</a>, and hopes to reach a stretch goal of $160,000 by the time the campaign ends on December 18.

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