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Brainput ()
MIT's 'Brainput' offloads human
multitasking to a computer
By Duncan Geere (/search/author/Duncan+Geere)
Related features
Brain scans show how
multitasking is harder for
seniors
(/news/archive/2011­
04/12/multitasking­brains)
15 May 12 (Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:00 +01:00)
A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has
developed an experimental system
Leave a
(http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/40406/?p1=A1)
comment
that can detect when a human is trying to multitask, and help out.
(#CommentList)
It's called "Brainput", and is essentially a portable fMRI scanner
Exploring the uncanny
valley of how brains react
to humanoids
(/news/archive/2011­
07/19/uncanny­valley­
tested)
combined with software. By measuring and analysing brain activity, the device
KinectBot responds to
gestural commands
(/news/archive/2010­
11/19/kinect­hack­3d­
mapping)
switching back and forth between the two.
detects when you're multitasking and can offload some of that work to a
computer. In a paper, the researchers described how they set up a maze with
two remote­controlled robots (http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012­
04/10/robooctopus) that needed to be both navigated simultaneously ­­
Google announces ball­
shaped Nexus Q media
streamer
(/news/archive/2012­
06/27/nexus­q)
When Brainput detected that the driver was multitasking, it was able to detect
one of the robots to use its own sensors to help navigate ­­ making it partially
How Cynthia Breazeal is
autonomous. The operator's overall performance improved, as a result, with
teaching robots how to be
little additional effort, and they didn't seem to notice or get frustrated by the
human
bot's autonomous behaviour while multitasking.
(/magazine/archive/2011/04/start/best­
friendbots)
However, when the researchers tried increasing the autonomy of the robot
when Brainput hadn't indicated that the participant was mentally overloaded,
they found that performance decreased. The autonomy only helped when the
operator wasn't able to keep up (http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011­
04/12/multitasking­brains).
"Multitasking has become integral in many aspects of our lives, so there are
opportunities to explore Brainput in other tasks and domains," said the team in
a paper (http://web.mit.edu/erinsol/www/papers/Solovey.CHI.2012.Final.pdf)
(.pdf) detailing the project. "In any activity involving multitasking or information
overload, we could expect to see improvements in the user's performance and
(/news/archive/2012-06/27/nexus-q)
In California at Google's I/O conference, the
search giant has announced an intriguing ball­
shaped media streaming device, running Android »
(/news/archive/2012­06/27/nexus­q)
This rock­paper­scissors robot cheats
(/news/archive/2012­06/27/rps­robot)
Human­powered helicopter smashes flight record
(/news/archive/2012­06/25/human­powered­
helicopter­record)
experience. Some examples of other domains are complex data analytics, air
traffic control and management of multiple unmanned vehicles."
They added that future work could consider other cognitive states where
humans could do with a helping hand from a machine. "An exploration of the
system's ability to distinguish other states could lead to new enhancements at
little to no cost to the operator."
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Story
Photo
Written by Duncan Geere
MIT
(/search/author/Duncan+Geere)
Edited by Nate Lanxon
4
reddit
Nokia's 41­megapixel PureView cameraphone
shunned by UK networks (/news/archive/2012­
06/27/pureview­network­support)
A Twitter bot so convincing that people
sympathise with "her" (/news/archive/2012­
06/26/twitter­bot­people­like)
Facebook just changed your email address
(/news/archive/2012­06/26/facebook­email­change)
Tags
Brains (/tags/Brains),
Multitasking
(/tags/Multitasking),
Robots (/tags/Robots),
Brainput
(/tags/Brainput), MIT
(/tags/MIT), fMRI
(/tags/fMRI)
Google's Build with Chrome lets you recreate the
world in Lego (/news/archive/2012­06/26/build­with­
chrome­lego)
In pictures: Hyper­real pencil drawings that look
like photos (/news/archive/2012­03/30/best­
drawing)
More News » (http://www.wired.co.uk/news)
Comments
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How to send balloons into
space
(/magazine/archive/2012/07/how­
to/send­balloons­into­
space)
28 June 2012
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Type the two words:
(javascript:Recaptcha.switch_type('audio');)
(/magazine/archive/2012/07/how-to/send-balloonsinto-space)
Canadian teenagers Asad Muhammad and Mathew
(http://www.google.com/recaptcha/help?c=03AHJ_Vus3kxeHDok02dK1WLFpnFUN-V9eAd8V1ZmItPPvVmr_lTEgoaStCrnPVHBvzbAvK-RzbGwAZXyHo sent a Lego minifig 24,384 metres up (near­
rJ8pbmE2h9R5A1rTDhvvImYReuAIojsJmOuDXCwNTxVbv8lUxZcDdDCiQ2KaAwg7cK9ialL4lMPyldkog&hl=enspace) using a balloon ­­ Ho explains how »
US)
(/magazine/archive/2012/07/how­to/send­
Submit » (javascript:WebForm_DoPostBackWithOptions(new
WebForm_PostBackOptions("ctl00$ctl00$ctl00$MainContent$MainContent$ctl01$CommentPost",
"", true, "CommentValidation", "", false, true)))
balloons­into­space)
Designer develops cocktail dress that actually
makes cocktails
(/magazine/archive/2012/07/play/cocktail­dress)
Tested: High­tech fishing tackle for the forward­
thinking angler
(/magazine/archive/2012/07/fetish/fishing­for­the­
future)
More from Wired.co.uk
How to master rock­paper­scissors
(/magazine/archive/2012/07/how­to/master­rock­
paper­scissors)
Winning by numbers: how performance analysis is
transforming sport
(/magazine/archive/2012/07/features/winning­by­
numbers)
(/news/archive/2012-06/26/twitterTE CHNO LO G Y
bot-people-like)
( / NE WS / TE CHNO LO G Y )
A Twitter bot so
convincing that
people sympathise
with "her"
(/news/archive/2012­
06/26/twitter­bot­
people­like)
(/magazine/archive/2011/04/features/howMAG AZI NE
(/news/archive/2012-05/24/theTE CHNO LO G Y
rovio-made-angry-birds-a-winner)
proxy-bay)
( / MAG AZI NE )
( / NE WS / TE CHNO LO G Y )
In depth: How Rovio
Pirate Bay launches
made Angry Birds a
proxy­friendly mirror
winner (and what's
to circumvent UK ban
next)
(/news/archive/2012­
(/magazine/archive/2011/04/features/how­
05/24/the­proxy­bay)
rovio­made­angry­
birds­a­winner)
Magazine » (/magazine)
Wired Twitter ()
Spotify adds social notifications for playlists:
http://t.co/y4G4xdGk (http://t.co/y4G4xdGk)
by @britishgaming
(http://twitter.com/britishgaming)
about 8 minutes ago
(http://twitter.com/WiredUK/statuses/218367116561231870)
Spider­Man's 50th birthday present: a
sidekick: http://t.co/qgeGW99R
(http://t.co/qgeGW99R) by @sebpatrick
(http://twitter.com/sebpatrick)
about 29 minutes ago
(http://twitter.com/WiredUK/statuses/218362004992311300)
Fail Tale: Co­founder of Sledge Tom Griffin
on macroeconomic setbacks
http://t.co/kv7sGehe (http://t.co/kv7sGehe)
about 41 minutes ago
(http://twitter.com/WiredUK/statuses/218358990822850560)
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Huawei Ascend Y100 review
(/reviews/mobile­
phones/2012­06/huawei­
ascend­y100)
28 June 2012
(/reviews/mobile-phones/2012-06/huawei-ascend-
y100)
Wired.co.uk reviews the Huawei Ascend Y100,
which offers a decent set of specs for a budget
Android device » (/reviews/mobile­phones/2012­
06/huawei­ascend­y100)
HP Pavilion dm4­3000ea Beats Edition laptop
review (/reviews/laptops/2012­06/hp­pavilion­dm4­
3000ea­beats­edition)
Olympus OM­D E­M5 review (/reviews/cameras­
and­camcorders/2012­06/olympus­om­d­e­m5)
LG 4X HD P880 review (/reviews/mobile­
phones/2012­06/lg­4x­hd­p880)
Nokia Lumia 610 review (/reviews/mobile­
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Sony Xperia P review (/reviews/mobile­
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