GEND 111 Bionics Group Project

"A portable, plugless, brain-to-computer interface using electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes strapped to the scalp has been developed by a team in the US. The device may allow paraplegics and others who have lost control of their limbs to control prosthetic devices and other equipment using their thoughts alone."

A paralyzed patient implanted with a brain-computer interface device has allowed scientists to determine the relationship between brain waves and attention.

There are millions of blind people who are hoping that medical technology would enable them to see the world one day. Well, the day is not far when the use of a bionic eye would be a routine medical procedure, which gives near perfect vision.

Good slideshow describing the uncanny valley

Document on Bionics from University of Genova.

Television's Six Million Dollar Man foresaw a future when man and machine would become one. New research at Tel Aviv University is making this futuristic "vision" of bionics a reality.

Immaculate prosthetic limb concept makes combines fun again, discusses the invention of the Immaculate prosthetic limbs. A jewelry designer, Hans Alexander Huseklepp, stylized the Immaculate artificial limb to appear non-human like to avoid the uneasiness of the Uncanny Valley phenomenon with artificial limbs.

The article Like Humans, Monkeys Fall Into The 'Uncanny Valley', discusses the study of monkeys' reactions when shown images of other monkeys. Some of the images resembled real monkeys; some images did not resemble monkeys and the other images sort of resembled real monkeys. The real monkeys were frightened by the less than real images and quickly ran away from them.

The article is about using alternative methods to interface with brain tissue other than wires and electrodes. The researchers at Case Western Reserve University are conducting the research, with the use of grant money. The research was to find a way for the brain and machine to interface through wireless activity. This would be done through the use of light. The article is not from a peer reviewed journal. This article can relate in the group in terms of an alternative method of establishing an interface.

The article is about neuroscientists being able to store information in brain tissue. The researchers at the Case Western Reserve University conducted experiments to store information in working memory, which is short term storage. The researchers will look into how much information can be stored in the hippocampus. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. The article is not from a peer review journal. The article can relate to see if the bionic parts can respond to the brain and vice versa, which could prove useful in the bibliography.

Practice Makes Perfect: Learning Mind Control of Prosthetics, discusses the study of using monkeys' brains to map neural processors for movement of their limbs. Sensors are embedded into the brain and a map is made based upon the electrical activity of neurons as animals are completing motor tasks. The application of this technology would benefit humans with prosthetics that would allow for fluid effortless control of their limbs.

In the article, a project funded by RIKEN and Toyota developed a Wheelchair that is controlled by using your mind. This would have an application in a sense that it would allow paraplegic individuals to move their wheelchair, even though they can't really speak with voice commands. The things that need to address is to lower the time latency from 125 milliseconds for more real-time response.

It is called SmartHand and uses myoelectrial signals in the form of electrodes to move the motors in the prosthetic hand. The SmartHand is unique because of the sensory feedback the amputee is receiving. There are sensors on each finger that communicate with the muscles in the forearm which stimulate the brain to move the fingers of the prosthetic hand. The article discusses that the ultimate goal of SmartHand is to attach a neural network connection directly to the artificial hand through sensors.

Fluidhand is made of hydraulics that allows the wearer to move each finger independently. The prosthetic hand has flexible joints of the fingers and sensors in the palm and fingertips that communicate with the nerves in the stump. This allows for amputee to feel how strong to grip items and provides more natural movements similar to a real hand.