Positive Technology Journal

Via the Presence Mailing List

(from Australia's The Age)

The new PlayStation or X-box may not need a joystick, with the Federal Government approving the development of Australian computer game technology that plugs directly into our brains.

With technology that is reminiscent of science fiction classics such as Ghost in the Shell, Lawnmower Man and Firefox, Sydney-based company Emotiv Systems will develop, with the assistance of $1.5 million in Federal Government funding, a wireless headset that will "read" brain waves for a gaming experience that will blur the line between fantasy and reality.

The funding was announced by federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane yesterday, and forms part of the Government's Commercial Ready program, the aim of which is to help develop new Australian ideas into commercially viable products.

Read the full story

PsychNology Journal will host three special issues on the following themes:

Via WMMNA

In the field of psychology, it has long been known that brain wave activity of persons subjected to a light flashing at a certain frequency would fall in sync with the flashing of the lights. Drawing on this observation, several devices have been developed to entrain brain waves. These systems are used by psychologists in their practices and by the general public for relaxation, stress management, insomnia, accelerated learning and retention, phobias, anxiety, fun, etc.

ENKI is a new technology that uses the bioelectric information from live Electric Fish (Gnathonemus petersii, a freshwater African mormyrid common name Long-Nose elephant fish - see video) to trigger human Brainwave Entrainment.

From the project's website:

It uses sound and light pulses - to induce a state of 'extreme relaxation' similar to the way traditional Sound and Light Entrainment devices (SLEDs) work - the difference is that ENKI uses the electric communication signals from Electric Fish rather than a pre-programmed chip. Ultimately ENKI offers the possibility of becoming one with the mind of 'nature' - and by default, achieving an altered, beneficial state through this experience.

The ENKI prototype has been developed through research into interactive biotechnological systems, biophysics, as well as other, believed scientific theories and ideas, used to develop similar technologies in the realm of medicine, neuroscience and other more obscure healing technologies.

 

A list of movies documenting the project can be found here

International Workshop
Naples , 17-18 October, 2006

Via information aesthetics

Free Network Visible Network is a project that combines different tools and processes to visualize, floating in the space, the interchanged information between users of a network. The people are able to experience in a new exciting way about how colorful virtual objects, representing the digital data, are flying around. These virtual objects will change their shape, size and color in relation with the different characteristics of the information that is circulating in the network.

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic and Brown University’s Butler Hospital have conducted anl experiment to assess the potential of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of Major Depression, the most severe category of depression. In a MD, more of the symptoms of depression are present, and they are usually more intense or severe.

The results of this study, Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Intractable Major Depression: Preliminary Results from a Multi-Center Prospective Trial, were presented at the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in San Francisco (April 2006).

 

Larger-scale clinical trials are needed to demonstrate the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the DBS treatment for depression.

Via Engadget

A team of computer vision researchers at the University of Illinois has developed "Shrug-detecting" technology that recognizes the level of confusion or disinterest. The system works by allowing a webcam-equipped computer to pick up on the "relative fast movement of the shoulder toward the face". Researchers hope that the Shrug-detector will soon be complemented with real-time blink, hand-motion and facial expression detectors.

More technical information about the Shrug-detector can be found in this paper (PDF). 

Motor-evoked potentials following imagery and limb disuse.

Int J Neurosci. 2006 May;116(5):639-51

Authors: Crews RT, Kamen G

PlaydoCAM™ is a free software that allows to use the web camera into a motion-tracking gaming device and play pong or basketball on Mac or PC without installing any new software by the interface mechanism of waving the hands in the air. I tried it and it worked fine...

I think that this technology could be effectively used in home-based training for poststroke hemiplegia

From the CP&B website

Functions of the Mirror Neuron System: Implications for Neurorehabilitation.

Cogn Behav Neurol. 2006 Mar;19(1):55-63

Authors: Buccino G, Solodkin A, Small SL

Mirror neurons discharge during the execution of hand object-directed actions and during the observation of the same actions performed by other individuals. These neurons were first identified in the ventral premotor cortex (area F5) and later on in the inferior parietal lobule of monkey brain, thus constituting the mirror neuron system. More recently, mirror neurons for mouth object-directed actions have also been found in the monkey. Several pieces of experimental data demonstrate that a mirror neuron system devoted to hand, mouth, and foot actions is also present in humans. In the present paper we review the experimental evidence on the role of the mirror neuron system in action understanding, imitation learning of novel complex actions, and internal rehearsal (motor imagery) of actions. On the basis of features of the mirror neuron system and its role in action understanding and imitation, we discuss the possible use of action observation and imitation as an approach for systematic training in the rehabilitation of patients with motor impairment of the upper limb after stroke.

Cognitive skills analysis, kinesiology, and mental imagery in the acquisition of surgical skills.

J Otolaryngol. 2005 Oct;34(5):328-32

Authors: Bathalon S, Dorion D, Darveau S, Martin M

GOAL: Isolate and evaluate the impact of mental imagery on the acquisition of an emergency surgical technique. METHOD: We studied 44 first-year medical students performing a cricothyrotomy on a mannequin to determine the impact of teaching using mental imagery (MI) and/or kinesiology (KG) compared to the standard Advandec Trauma Life Support (ATLS) approach. Students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: MI and KG, KG alone or control (ATLS). Two weeks after the one-hour teaching session, they were evaluated with an OSCE testing the performance of the different steps of the technique, the time required and its fluidity. RESULTS: Total results (maximum: 25 marks) are as follows: KG + MI = 20.3 +/- 1.5 ; KG = 19.3 +/- 2.9 ; ATLS = 18.2 +/- 2.5. The only statistically significant difference for total results was in the use of MI and KG compared to the control group. Kinesiology alone or with mental imagery improved the fluidity of the performance. CONCLUSION: Many factors influence the acquisition of a surgical technique. This study showed that acquisition and performance of an emergency procedure (cricothyrotomy) was improved when mental imagery and kinesiology were combined to teach it.

Simulating social interaction to address deficits of autistic spectrum disorder in children.

Cyberpsychol Behav. 2006 Apr;9(2):213-7

Authors: Trepagnier CY, Sebrechts MM, Finkelmeyer A, Stewart W, Woodford J, Coleman M

Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed on the basis of impairment in reciprocal social interaction and language, and rigidity of behavior. This brief paper describes the development of an experimental intervention for preschool children newly diagnosed with ASD. The rationale for this intervention is the hypothesis that failure to attend to social cues in very early life, of itself, may bear a large share of responsibility for core social and communicative deficits. The intervention, therefore, uses eye-tracking to monitor and trigger rewards for attention to facial expression and direction of gaze.

Neurofeedback treatment of epilepsy: from basic rationale to practical application.

Expert Rev Neurother. 2006 Feb;6(2):247-57

Authors: Egner T, Sterman MB

From VRoot.org (via MSNBC)

With Pentagon support, researchers develop thought-controlled limbs. Work on artificial arms that would be controlled by the human mind is ramping up, thanks to a helping financial hand from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. DARPA announced in February that it would pour $55 million into a prosthetic arm research project to be led by Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. The work will be spread among more than two dozen institutions.

From 3pointd.com:

SpatiaLight, which manufactures “ultra high-resolution Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) microdisplays for the high definition television market,” has a press release accouncing that it’s now developing “a 3-D eyeglass-type display device for use with wireless phones, personal digital assistants and personal media players, which enable the viewing of broadband content, cable and satellite television, music videos as well as playing of video games, all with the experience of high definition large screen television.” Imagine: instead of all the laptops at Starbucks, we’ll one day see a bunch of people logging into the virtual world via a hyper-powered Blackberry and their SpatiaLight VR glasses.

From textually.org 

Electromagnetic radiation from your mobile phone may impair your ability to make snap decisions, such as when driving a car, an Australian study shows, reports Optus.net via Engadget Mobile and Techdirt Wireless.

"The study, which will be published in the journal Neuropsychologia found evidence of slowed reactions, on both simple reactions and more complex reactions, such as choosing a response when there is more than one alternative.

The researchers found these effects after people were exposed to electromagnetic radiation equivalent to spending 30 minutes on the phone."

... Another interesting finding of the study was that the participants showed a slight improvement in working memory, such as remembering a phone number long enough to dial it."