The tool is called BrainNety, at the moment it allows the interaction of three brains simultaneously. Researchers define it as an interface for collaborative problem solving.
The human brain is an exciting source of information. Defining how your complex network of connections works is a challenge for the neuroscientist community. Analysis techniques Big Data based on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are being of great help to their study.
Virtual reality systems already exist capable of transmitting our thoughts to a machine, but researchers at the University of Washington and Carnegie Mellon University have gone further, and developed an interface that allows communication of brains with each other.
The tool is called BrainNet and, at the moment, allows the interaction of three brains simultaneously. Researchers define it as an interface for collaborative problem solving. To prove it, they have conducted an experiment in which they have connected the thoughts of groups of three people (two transmitters and one receiver) to solve an interactive Tetris-like game.
How does it work?
The broadcasting people are connected to electroencephalography electrodes (EEG) that record your brain signals. The information is transmitted to the recipient by transcranial magnetic stimulation pulses (TMS), with which light flashes called phosphenes are delivered to your occipital cortex.
It is a non-invasive method, because the electrical pulse transmission between neurons it is part of the normal functioning of the human brain.
According to the researchers, during the first tests the communication was carried out successfully, since the information was transmitted with an accuracy of 81.25%. The implementation of the project involves a first step towards creating more complex brain-brain interfaces that enable the collaborative work of larger collectives. Advances in neurotransmission and neuroimaging techniques will be key to its evolution.
Beyond its initial conception, as with the birth of any technology, its development allows us to imagine a wide range of possibilities of use. Who knows if in the future we will see the existence of a brain social network that allows its members to transmit thoughts to each other.
At the same time, ethical questions arise about the use of this technology for harmful purposes. It is easy to associate the existence of devices capable of recording thoughts with mind control scenarios similar to those existing in the Black Mirror series or the 1984 dystopian novel.
Everything will depend on how it is implemented in the future. What is clear is that the possibility of connecting our brains is completely disruptive.
