The Brain is the Ultimate Hands-Free Phone

Yes, there are problems with cell phones, but there is GOOD news too: A new brain-control interface lets paraplegics make calls just by THINKING of the number. And after a brief training period, these people probably dial fewer wrong numbers than the rest of us do. It could also be the ultimate hands-free technology for people who want to, for example, text or talk while driving.

Developed by researcher Tzyy-Ping Jung, the system uses electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes worn on a headband to analyze electrical activity in the brain. The headband is hooked up to a Bluetooth module that wirelessly sends the signals to a Nokia N73 cell phone, which processes the signals. In Technology Review, Duncan Graham-Rowe quotes Jung as saying, "From our experience, anyone can do it. Some people have a higher accuracy than others." Jung himself can only reach around 85% accuracy.

What do you say when you reach a wrong number this way–"Sorry, my brain misfired?" We predict that’s something you’ll be hearing soon! And speaking of predictions, the Master of the Key made many of them to Whitley Strieber, when he burst into Whitley’s hotel room in Toronto in the summer of 1998. As the years went by, Whitley discovered that many of these predictions–especially the scientific ones–came TRUE. The NEW, revised edition of The Key, with a foreword that talks about how many of his statements later turned out to be true, will be in bookstores May 12!