Last October, the Keio University Biomedical Engineering Laboratory demoed a brain-computer interface that let users move about in Second Life using only their minds. The goal was to make it a tool for physically handicapped users to interact with others in the virtual environment. Today the researchers said that a man who could not move his arms and legs was able to control a Second Life avatar via the BCI's three electrodes and then communicate with other users through an attached microphone.
The researchers say the system could add motivation to patients who are too depressed to go through rehab and, with other tools like a mentally controlled text message system, enable anyone to go through their daily activities in the virtual world.
"In the near future, they would be able to stroll through Second Life shopping malls with their brain waves... and click to make a purchase," Junichi Ushiba, associate professor of biosciences and informatics, told the AFP.
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