A stunning string quartet created through brainwaves
November 8, 2016 12:42 PM   Subscribe

Activating Memory is a composition for a string quartet with each of the instruments’ parts generated in real time through a Brain-Computer Music Interfacing (BCMI) program.

Director Tim Grabham's short film shows the impact of the program, led by professor Eduardo Miranda. By directly accessing the brain via electroencephalogram (EEG) technology, four severely motor-impaired people (such as former violinist Rosemary Johnson) are able to create a full-fledged musical piece.
posted by I_Love_Bananas (5 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Somebody notify Laurie Anderson, stat!
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:30 PM on November 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


What a fantastic project. Great blend of tech and human skill for a really worthwhile goal. I've seen lots of interesting and clever bci projects that are basically gimmicks (albeit quite arty ones) looking for a purpose, but they really seem to be achieving something here.

/Looks at own collection of hacked-together gimmicks, sighs.
posted by metaBugs at 4:21 PM on November 8, 2016 [2 favorites]


I love this. I have significant deficits in my hands but I would love to "play" music this way.
posted by fshgrl at 1:46 AM on November 9, 2016


Wow
posted by poxandplague at 1:53 AM on November 9, 2016


This "brain-computer interface" is just a gaze-tracker. It discriminates among four patterns of flicker through EEG. It only applies to people who can see and can control their eye movements. Directly tracking gaze instead of EEG would offer more responsive control with more options.

For text entry, Dasher represents a more sophisticated system than the alphabet board in the video.
posted by 0rison at 9:24 AM on November 9, 2016 [2 favorites]


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