The short message from 2nd rotation IMLP Alana Edumunds, "GE IMLP," that appeared on Twitter is not an ordinary message.

The unusual thing about this message is how she wrote it:  with her brain waves.

On July 13th, a group of 5 Schenectady Infra Energy IMLP interns accompanied by their buddy Alana Edmunds and IMLP champion visited the Wadsworth Research Center in Albany, NY to learn about the impressive research going on in the area of developing a brain-computer interface (BCI).

The BCI interface is primarily being built for patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disabling condition created by brain-stem stroke or spinal-cord injury. People with these disorders gradually lose their ability to use their muscles and therefore lose their capability to communicate with the outside world by speaking, nodding, or even with eye movement.

For almost 20 years, researchers at the Wadsworth Center have been developing a BCI system to help such paralyzed people communicate and hence lead productive and fulfilling lives.

Gerwin Schalk, chief software engineer of the Wadsworth BCI project was our tour guide. He started the tour by explaining how the BCI system records the brain's electrical activity. First, he showed us a swimming cap with a series of electrodes fitted to record Electrophysiological signals (EEG signals) from the scalp, and then explained the process of recording these signals.

To actually type via brainwaves, a user watches a computer screen that displays a flashing matrix of letters that correspond to the keys of a standard computer keyboard. To type, the user must focus on the next letter of the word he or she wishes to spell and when that particular letter flashes, the user must convey this selection message to the brain in some way - which could be thinking"that's it," or tapping a finger.

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