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Show PERSONALITY 7 Last May, Chrono Nu, senior, began a research project with the EggLink, his own interface. It took him all summer nearly 50 hours a week to get the program where it is today. I lay awake at night thinking of algorithms to process data better for interfacing, Nu said. It has a potential to impact our technological world in such a substantial way. The goal of his interface, also known as a BCI, is to enable people who cannot click a mouse or type on a keyboard to use computers. Another result could be brain-comput- er The igglidk flsma Nu came up with the name EagLink after finding that the oest definition of the program is an graphical user interface. 'There's lots of E's and G's," Nu said. "Scientists love acronyms." flsw fiie Eg 3 Link Works 1: Electrodes on the EEG record electrical impulses from the brain coming from the movement STAGE of fingers. brain-comput- er brain-comput- er mind-controll- 2: The EEG sends the data from the electrical impulses to the computer. Then, the data is processed by the EggLink code, which the gets rid or most of from the data unnecessary STAGE brain. 3: When the project finished, the final output will be a mouse or a keyboard command generated through the thought of moving a finger. STAGE is ed entertainment and recreation. Imagine playing a game with your brain, Nu said. Nu is in the process of creating a program that recognizes brain signals from computer users, allowing them to control the computer with their thoughts. They would do this while wearing an electroencephalogram (EEG), which looks like a net with 128 small cell batteries around it. If the technology were - refined enough, every computer youve ever seen would be thrown away, Nu said. You would just have a chip sitting on your head thats safe, easy to use and has every tool youve ever needed to connect to the electronic world. Going all the way up to the fourth floor of the Meldrum Science Center, participants in Nus EggLink research walk into the neuroscience lab to prepare for around 40 minutes of brain signal recording. We cant compensate participants with money, Nu said. But we do have really delicious gourmet snacks. A participant wets his or her hair and puts on an EEG. The device begins recording the electricity the participants brain puts out as he or she strikes a keyboard with each individual finger while following instructions on the screen. Once finished, Nu looks over data the EEG recorded. Were the it not for Nus super powerful laptop a computer that is more powerful than the five others in the neuroscience lab combined-runni- ng the EggLink would not be possible. The data that each participants brain provides is so vast that it took days to analyze before this laptop came along. Doug Getty, junior neuroscience major, works with Nu in the neuroscience lab. Chrono is one of the most simultaneously intelligent and people I know, said. He has been a Getty mentor and role model to me. Getty said that Nus kind-heart- ed potential contributions to the developments of BCIs are huge and that he enriches the lives of everyone around him. Coding the EggLink has been quite the feat, as Nu has worked on it almost completely on his own. Nu has access to all of the equipment he needs with the help of McNair Scholars and the neuroscience program at Westminster. However, even with all of the equipment, he has still encountered complication';. How you control die flow of programs from start to finish, and the biggest overall hurdle of the entire system, is basically just building the freakin system, Nu said. Since starting almost a year Nu said that he has probably ago, over 1,000 hours refining spent the EggLink programs and even attended a conference in Texas to present his work. I used to joke about bringing a feather bed and hiding it under my desk to sleep in the lab, Nu said. Theres a shower on the first floor, anyway. In his last semester at Westminster, Nu has been focusing more on his graduate school search. He has offers from University of Michigan and Tufts University, but is waiting until the end of March to hear back from other schools he applied to. He said he hopes to fully complete the EggLink and his research by the time he is done with graduate school, which , might take up to six years. He said that he looks forward to devoting his time to his research as he continues his education. There are times that you want to rip your hair out, but I really do love it, Nu said. I cant get away from neuroscience. Its too interesting to me. Contact Professor Lesa Ellis and Professor Russ Costa if you are interested in helping the neuroscience lab conduct research. |