How brain-machine interfaces can improves the lives of persons with disabilities?

Speaking of Engineering Lecture
November 24, 2021

Brain-machine interfaces (BMI) are technologies that provide a direct communication pathway between the brain and an external device. Such technologies could greatly improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities and have shown promise in many applications ranging from controlling computers and wheelchairs using thoughts alone, to helping to recover lost hand function following stroke. Beyond this, researchers are looking into potential uses for BMIs in a variety of non-medical applications, from human performance augmentation to neuromarketing.

For this talk, Dr. Sarah Power dove deeper into what brain-machine interfaces are, how they work, the current state-of-the-art, and the potential applications for persons with disabilities, as well as the general population. She also discussed some of the important ethical issues involved in these technologies.

Dr. Power is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Discipline of Community Health and Humanities at Memorial University. After receiving her bachelor of engineering degree in electrical engineering from Memorial in 2006, she pursued graduate studies in biomedical engineering at the University of Toronto, earning her master of applied science and doctor of philosophy degrees in 2008 and 2012, respectively. Her primary research interests lie in non-invasive brain-machine interfaces.

A full-length recording of the lecture can be viewed below.