Brain–Computer Interfaces - Index of

Toward Ubiquitous BCIs 375
hair in the 60s. However, the mockery would be reduced if such treatment were
commonplace and produced real improvement.
Commercial forces will also encourage more positive views of BCIs. As companies
try to make systems that not only look and act cool, but are perceived as cool,
they will spend more money on advertising efforts to bolster BCIs.
Accurate information, especially BCI success stories, also help encourage a more
positive view of BCIs. One of our goals with this book was to make BCIs accessible
to the general public. Some colleagues and I recently established a website
at www.future-bnci.org with a similar goal. Efforts such as these could counteract
media gaffes, encourage new users and researchers, and help dispel the myth that
you need a PhD to understand or enjoy BCI research.
3 Other Incipient BCI Revolutions
Many of the key factors in BCI adoption will change in the near to medium
future, some only slightly, some dramatically. These changes intertwine like tangled
neurons with revolutions in funding and user groups.
3.1 Funding
Most BCI research and development today is funded by government entities devoted
to supporting scientific research and development. This fact reflects the general perception
– which was true until very recently – that BCIs and related systems are only
useful for very limited user groups. The US government has focused more heavily
on invasive BCIs and noninvasive EEG-based systems for “Augmented Cognition”
such as monitoring alertness or error, while the EU has focused primarily on noninvasive
BCIs. The EU funded three major international research efforts beginning
in 2008 called TOBI, BRAIN, and TREMOR, and funded seven more major BCIrelated
projects beginning in 2010 called BrainAble, Better, MindWalker, Mundus,
Decoder, Asterics, and Future BNCI. All of these ten projects focus on noninvasive
BCIs, sometimes including BNCI signals that do pass through peripheral nerves
and muscles. Some national projects within the EU, such as the massive Dutch
BrainGain project, also focus on noninvasive BCIs. Since invasive BCIs are unlikely
to become ubiquitous, the funding emphasis by the European Commission seems
likely to increase European dominance at this critical juncture in BCI research.
In many cases, funds from other sources are used to support similar research
mechanisms and goals. For example, in 2005, a nongovernmental organization
called the ALTRAN Foundation gave $1 Million to one of the most active and
respected BCI research groups, Dr. Wolpaw’s Wadsworth Research Lab in New
York, to support their BCI research efforts.
Similarly, most BCI hardware, such as amplifiers and electrode caps, is purchased
by research laboratories to conduct research. A slowly growing number of