Potential security problems will have to be solved before we have a future where everyone controls their environments using their minds. But in the nearer term, less invasive forms of brain-computer interfaces are already here and carry significantly less risk for the user. Headsets have already been used to successfully race drones and control MindDesktop, a generalized brain interface for Windows. Although these devices are less risky than actually implanting a device in your gray stuff upstairs, they also are lacking when it comes to performance—it takes about 20 seconds to type a single character with MindDesktop. Still, they are relatively cheap since they use modified consumer electronics. In the case of MindDesktop, this is an $800 electroencephalogram (a device that measures electrical activity in the brain). (READ MORE)
