WEB DESK, July 12(ABC): By monitoring brain function, computers can be made imagine what a person is thinking of and present the results as images. The technique can be utilized in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, as well as supporting human creativity.
Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed a technique in which a computer models visual perception by monitoring human brain signals. In a way, it is as if the computer tries to imagine what a human is thinking about. As a result of this imagining, the computer is able to produce entirely new information, such as fictional images that were never before seen.
The technique is based on a novel brain-computer interface. Previously, similar brain-computer interfaces have been able to perform one-way communication from brain to computer, such as spell individual letters or move a cursor.
As far as is known, the new study is the first where both the computer’s presentation of the information and brain signals were modeled simultaneously using artificial intelligence methods. Images that matched the visual characteristics that participants were focusing on were generated through interaction between human brain responses and a generative neural network.