COVER STORY • 封面專題 2022 UMAGAZINE 26 • 澳大新語 25 Imagine if you were able to control your TV, adjust your lights, and type on your mobile phone with only your brain while sitting comfortably at home. Would you like to obtain this superpower? In recent decades, scientists have made remarkable progress in building brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). At the University of Macau (UM), a research team has developed some different types of BCIs. Members of the team have also won championships in international and national brain-controlled typing competitions and have even set a world record. Different Ways to Read Minds According to Wan Feng, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences at UM, there have been various commercial attempts to implant microchips in human brains for clinical trials in countries such as the United States and Australia. These chips can partially decode thoughts to control computers and machines, allowing people with disabilities to control prosthetic arms and legs. ‘This type of BCI should be quite effective, but it requires brain surgery, including drilling a hole in the skull to implant the chip, which poses significant risks to users,’ says Prof Wan. To avoid these risks, scientists are developing non‐ invasive BCIs that do not require surgery. Instead of implanting a chip in the brain, an individual can wear an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap that records brain waves. ‘Take brain‐controlled typing as an example: We can show on the computer screen several coloured boxes, each containing a letter of the English alphabet and flashing at a certain frequency. When we look at one of these boxes, our brain generates electrical activity at the same frequency or at a multiple of the frequency of the visual stimulus,’ says Prof Wan. ‘The related brain signals are called steady state visually evoked potentials [SSVEP], and they can be interpreted as computer commands to enter the letter we want.’ 左起：萬峰教授、王澤博士、黄志岷博士 From left: Prof Wan Feng, Dr Wang Ze, and Dr Edwin Wong
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