Chinese breakthrough lets human brains beam radio waves
- Researchers say new technology paves the way for mind-controlled radar and detecting tired drivers
- Scientists bridge brain and radio signals using programmable ‘metasurface’
“Our design provides users with a universal way to manipulate electromagnetic waves using brainwaves,” said Professor Wang Jiafu, leading project scientist with Air Force Engineering University in northwestern Shaanxi province, in a paper published in peer-reviewed journal eLight on June 11.
Different users could use the new technology in innovative ways, according to the researchers.
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The technology could also be used to prevent car accidents by monitoring fatigue in drivers through a smart radio receiver that can detect changes in brainwaves.
For over a century, useful electromagnetic signals could only be produced by tapping in Morse code or writing commands on a computer. This process was slow and inefficient because it required lots of physical movement by operators, according to Wang.
His team was inspired by the recent emergence of metamaterial, a programmable material that can generate or manipulate radio waves.
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Extremely thin metamaterials can create a “metasurface” over an object, turning almost anything into a radio transmitter. Wang and colleagues suspected that a metasurface could serve as a bridge to connect brainwaves and radio waves.
In their experiment, the researchers used a wearable device to detect brainwaves through commercially available technology known as a brain-computer interface.
They then passed the brain signal to the metasurface through wireless Bluetooth technology.
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However, radio and brainwaves are like different “languages”, so Wang’s team programmed the metasurface to translate the brainwaves into radio signals almost instantly.
Past studies on metasurfaces used a wired connection to the signal source, according to Wang’s team.
The experiment was the first time a metasurface had been directly controlled by a user’s brainwaves, they said.
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The Post contacted Wang’s team but the researchers declined an interview because they work for the military.
According to another paper published in eLight on June 11, a research team led by professor Cui Tiejun with Southeast University in the eastern city of Nanjing established brain-to-brain communication between two volunteers using a similar technology.
The metasurface programmed by Cui’s team sent a message from one person to another by converting brain signals into radio waves.
