Analogue evolutionary brain computer interfaces

The keyboard is a device that, with its many switches, provides us with an interface that is reliable but also very unnatural. The mouse is only slightly less primitive, being an electro-mechanical transducer of musculoskeletal movement. Both have been with us for decades, yet they are unusable for people with severe musculoskeletal disorders and are themselves known causes of work-related upperlimb and back disorders, both hugely widespread problems [1], [2]. It will be a major contribution to computer interface technology one day to be able to replace mouse and keyboard with Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) capable of directly interpreting the desires and intentions of computer users. © 2006 IEEE.