Interfaces linking computers to the human brain have previously been used to carry out simple tasks such as moving a cursor or spelling out individual letters.
It isn’t quite mind reading, but an advanced brain-computer interface (BCI) could potentially allow a person who was affected by paralysis, for example, to control a computer system to achieve a certain effect.
Now, a team of researchers from Helsinki have developed a novel application for a BCI that involves a computer creating original images based on its reading of human brain activity.
In a study detailed in the journal Scientific Reports, the system was used to monitor brain signals as people viewed a series of images.
Using artificial intelligence, the computer assessed the data it received and used it to create its own images.
Essentially, it was attempting to ‘imagine’ what the person was thinking of and recreate it visually.
The researchers, from the University of Helsinki, call the technique neuroadaptive generative modelling.
It is believed to be the first time that a BCI has been used to model human visual perception based on brain signals.
Technique could be used in psychology and neuroscience
The team claim that this could have applications in the fields of psychology and cognitive neuroscience, as well as human creativity.
Participants in the study were shown hundreds of images of diverse-looking people and told to concentrate on specific things, such as older faces or faces that were smiling.
Their brain activity was recorded while they did so, with the computer inferring which images the volunteers believed to contain these features.
The neural network then estimates what kind of face the person is thinking of and creates its own original image.
The participants rated the image that the computer came up with for accuracy regarding the features they were thinking of and the study achieved an impressive 83% accuracy.
Generating images of the human face is only a demonstrative application of the technique, with a potential use being to aid human creativity.
Professor Tuukka Ruotsalo said: “If you want to draw or illustrate something but are unable to do so, the computer may help you to achieve your goal.
“It could just observe the focus of attention and predict what you would like to create.”
It could also be used to study human perception as the system does not read thoughts, but rather the associations we have with descriptions such as ‘smiling’ or ‘old person’.
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