Twitter Operated By Brain Signals Only

At the University of Wisconsin, Adam Wilson tested an application which allows people to control Twitter with their brain signals. The user just needs to think of the letter and it is typed into Twitter. Adam Wilson put together pieces of technology which existed individually, and yet, it is a great invention for many reasons.

So, what's the big deal, if a bunch of already existing technologies were thrown together? Of course, we can have a computer, an internet connection, a Twitter account. What might not be widely known is the brain-computer interface. What happened was that the right technology was used for the right cause.

Picture a situation where there is a person, who has many disabilities, possible not able to make movements, but is able to think. As amazing as it is, there are people, who's functioning is at the level of thinking and natural body functions. Some years ago, society considered them as non-functioning individuals. Today, technology allows them to be part of society.

When we talk about technology, it is not enough to say that it is theoretically possible. It should be a solution which works. In this instance, this solution is not in the complexity of technology, rather, in the simplicity of twitter. When any key stroak counts, and the less typing is needed the more effective people can be, it is much easier than sending an e-mail, and as an added bonus, messages can reach many people at the same time. People who have limited movements, or are not able to make movements at all, can be exponentially more productive when technology cuts back on the amount of movements needed, even if it is just a keystroke.

The brain operated twitter is not too fast, much slower than typing. But when it opens new doors to people, it can make a whole lot of difference. The technology still needs to improve, but it is at the stage where it can actually be useful.

This application did not only reach those who can now communicate with many more people much faster. But it has received great publicity. The big news is not that it does exist today. It could have existed since Twitter did. The news is that somebody thought about it, put it together, and created awareness. We can now think of people differently whom we thought were not as functional as they can be today.