Since the early 1990s, scientists have been working on establishing direct communication between brains and computers. This has always been costly, difficult, and time-consuming, but an area of research that fascinated me. While working on Helix™ (my Genetic Algorithm software), and developing related innovations in parallel processing, one of the acceleration technologies I examined was the Kyma™/ Capybara™ platform of real-time Digital Signal Processors intended for audio applications.
The innovation here is the connection I noticed between business software, audio applications, and brain scanning: Because frequency, voltage amplitude, and signal-to-noise ratios of scalp-registered brain signals are in the same ranges as the audio signals from piezo devices such as phonograph needles, the application of this equipment to develop a system for adaptively reading brainwaves would lend itself to easy programming, and reduce the equipment cost by at least two orders of magnitude (100x). While I did not endeavor to create such an application, I did forward my findings, via memo, to the three leading neurological research labs of the day.
