Brain Machine Interfaces: Technology Status, Applications and the Way to the Future

Brain Machine Interfaces (BMIs) enable direct communication between the brain or nervous system and a machine without involving the sensory-motor system. BMIs are an embryonic technology and remarkable accomplishments have recently been reported. BMIs have a high potential and possibly an enormous impact on society, and may evoke a revolution in the way we interact with computers. If we look at the Human Factors and Ergonomics community's position in the BMI field, we do not have a meaningful track record yet. However, the thesis of this paper is that we as a community are in a good position to (1) facilitate a broadening of the focus of BMIs from therapeutic applications to general use and (2) to realise a spin-in of BMI technology to domains such as Human Computer Interaction, supporting people with special needs, and training and simulation.