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Twitter and using your brain

Scott Jagow Apr 23, 2009

This is a cool story. A biomedical engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has come up with a way to Twitter just by thinking the letters you need to spell.

A few days ago, Adam Wilson sent a Tweet that said “GO BADGERS,” followed by a second one that said “SPELLING WITH MY BRAIN.”

From CNN:

That’s right, no keyboards, just a red cap fitted with electrodes that monitor brain activity, hooked up to a computer flashing letters on a screen. Wilson sent the messages by concentrating on the letters he wanted to “type,” then focusing on the word “twit” at the bottom of the screen to post the message.

The development could be a lifeline for people with “locked-in syndrome” — whose brains function normally but who cannot speak or move because of injury or disease.

Hundreds of thousands of people suffer from locked-in syndrome. Can you imagine? You can’t speak or move but you could simply look at your mobile device and have a conversation with a person standing in front of you or thousands of miles away.

Here’s a video of how the brain-Twitter app works:

And here’s an example of why you’d better use your brain when you Tweet.

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