This is why we need to fund research without specific agendas…so many of the really helpful technologies have been side-results of other investigations. The things that have come out of research for NASA are mind boggling.

I’ll never sniff in disdain again!

“Brain-computer interfaces”, which allow users to control cursors through thought alone, are the most promising avenue yet, but they’re still in their infancy.

There is a TED talk video that was posted recently about a cheap EEG headset which seems to have some potential (if they aren’t faking it). Apparently they can piggyback on some known states, such as making sad and happy faces, but also even read more abstract things when you’ve practiced, or trained its algorithms.

I’m still not sure whether to really dare believe it, but I had a bit of a “we’re living in the future now” moment when visiting their site; it’s not on the experimental research / drawing board stage but an actual product that anyone could get right now, and they seem to be in it to make money.