... connecting herself to her software in a live big-screen demonstration of her cerebral responses whilst she was subjected to questioning.
Earlier this week, at Le Web 2011, Ms Garten said that the main use of brain-controlled computing was about wellness. “The best immediate-term application from consumers is to help you understand yourself and engaging with yourself,” she said.
“It is not going to be about controlling your iPhone or changing the volume on your stereo. Those things are not that relevant or meaningful at this stage of the technology,” she said.
What is relevant, she told the WSJ, was about using sensors to monitor your brain states and using that as a positive feedback loop so you can actually change them.
“It is not like listening to your heartbeat. There is a feedback loop that you can close and influence,” she said. “Using devices makes you aware of your state, and actually helps you enhance that state.”
According to Garten her company would have a commercial product available in the first half of next year - although there are currently certain limitations.
For example, sensor placement. The problem is that brain waves are very low power, and such obstacles as hair can interfere with the sensor’s ability to pick up a signal.
Nonetheless, she is optimistic. “When you notice something there is a brain wave called a P300 - a brain wave associated with someone noticing something. At the moment we can’t pick these up with the current consumer configurations that are available.
She cites a lie-detector as an example of a P300 thought-wave. “If you showed a criminal something, say the crime scene and asked them ‘is that familiar?’ His brainwaves would give him away.”