Honda is currently working on a technology that will control ASIMO by human thought alone. Hopefully, it won't catch everything passing though the brain's electrical highways.

It's somewhat scary to imagine corporations working on instruments that can read human thought. The technology is certainly not science fiction--at least, any anymore given today's advancements. Engineering geniuses have already proven that test subjects can play games by thought alone, however now Honda has raised the bar by enabling humans the ability to control a robot by mere thought. On the technological front, the idea is exciting, opening up a new frontier of interaction and control. However, the science, again, is somewhat frightening, especially considering where thought-control processing will be ten years in the future.

The Brain Machine Interface (BMI) technology, a joint venture between Honda, ATR, and Shimadzu, uses two sensors collecting different information: electroencephalography (measures changes in electrical potential on the scalp) and near-infrared spectroscopy (measures changes in cerebral blood flow). The BMI also uses a newly developed information extraction technology that enables statistical processing of the complex information from the EEG and NIRS sensors. Thus, the device can read various brain activities with high precision, enabling the end-user to control an application--such as Honda's ASIMO humanoid robot--without physical movement.

"The BMI technology announced by HRI-JP and ATR in 2006 used a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner to measure brain activities," reports Honda. "The large size and powerful magnetic field generated by the fMRI scanner limited the locations and conditions where it can be used. As the newly developed measuring device uses EEG and NIRS sensors, it can be transported to and used in various locations."

So how does it work? The groups of EEG and the NIRS sensors are placed on the human test subject's head via a grid-like cap, covering the entire top-half of the skull. Once the device's huge black dome is inserted over the cap (to protect the sensors and wiring), the human is then given a pre-determined body part to imagine, concentrating on how it will move without physically moving a muscle. The thoughts thus trigger changes in brain waves and cerebral blood flow, which are measured simultaneously by the two sensors. The data produced by the sensors is obtained and analyzed on a real-time basis. The determined action--left hand, right hand, tongue, or feet--thus transmits to ASIMO. Honestly, we didn't know the humanoid robot even had a tongue.

At the time of this writing, the overall system has an accuracy rate more than 90 percent during the tests. With such a high success rate, it's possible that industries may see thought-powered devices using the BMI technology in the future. "Honda is looking into the possibility of applying this technology to a people-friendly human interface through integration with other technologies such as artificial intelligence technologies and/or robotics technologies," the company said.

While controlling a robot by thought alone seems morel like mechanical slavery, having the ability to change TV stations by mere thought certainly sounds like the way to go. Still, technology that reads brainwaves can take a darker, more sinister route. It's only a matter of time before the government gets involved, wanting the BMI technology for military applications... if it hasn't already.