Stationary Electrodes Are The New Black

One of the core tenets of Backyard Brains is our slogan, neuroscience for everyone! We constantly work to drive the world around us into the neurorevolution, and when we hear about projects like Peter Buczkowski’s master’s thesis, we know we’re doing something right.

Peter Buczkowski graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts and in 2017 with a Master of Arts in the Digital Media from the University of the Arts in Bremen. His idea for his masters thesis was born out of a TENS unit, after seeing our Human-Human Interface TED Talk. “I especially liked the receiving part of possessed hand experiment and the idea to use the human as an interface. This inspired me to do my own experiments in that field,” Peter told us. “I chose three topics and build three projects to cover a wide spectrum so one can see the possibilities of this technology in different areas.”

Peter started out with the most basic of scientific endeavors: solving a problem. Doing any sort of human neuroscience or biofeedback research is made a little more difficult the fact that most types of patch electrodes are sticky and a hassle to use, not to mention not very aesthetically pleasing. So he set out to fix that, and now, his projects center around the idea of “stationary” electrodes: not necessarily something attached to the body, but something that a person can just hop onto and start learning. His three projects deal with photography, video game skill, and muscle memory, using the paradigms apparent in our Human-Human Interface experiments to create his designs.

The Prosthetic Photographer

His first project is called the Prosthetic Photographer. “The Prosthetic Photographer is a modular camera attachment that forces you with electric impulses to take beautiful pictures,” Peter wrote. Typical advice for a budding photographer is just to go out and take thousands of photos, and you will learn the difference between and okay shot and a beautiful one. The Prosthetic Photographer aims to shorten that process through machine learning. Using machine learning to distinguish between high and low quality photos and neural networking to connect the computer, the camera, and the user, the ProstheticPhotographer is an example of machine learning and human learning coming together. 

The device is a modular one that can be added to any compatible camera, utilizing a TENS unit to render the user as a conduit for its learning, controlling the photographs being taken and teaching its concept of aesthetics to the user. Electrodes on the camera’s handle transmits a shock signal to the user causing an involuntary press of a button, and a subsequent shutter click. A camera with its own eye for beauty! Photography will never be the same.

Prosthetic Photographer from Peter Buczkowski on Vimeo.

Twitch

Building upon the machine learning aspect of his work, Peter moved on to his second project, utilizing Twitch to condition people to play video games perfectly. Twitch.tv is an online streaming platform that lets gamers both showcase their play and observe others in order to beat a particularly hard section of a game. This unconventional style of video game play gave Peter an idea: what if a computer were to tell you what your next move is?

In a version of the classic computer game “Snake,” a computer calculates whether the next move should be left, right, up, or down, dividing the buttons between two electrode arrays (one for each hand). The computer then transmits its decision to the corresponding button and stimulates the finger to press that button, and the snake moves in the decided-upon direction. Sure, it takes the human guesswork out of the game, but without a human, it would not be possible!

Twitch from Peter Buczkowski on Vimeo.

The Medium Machine

Finally, Peter built the Medium Machine, the most speculative of his projects. According to his website, “The Medium Machine enables [a computer] to transfer data and information in the form of muscle contractions into the unconscious mind of a human.” The inspiration for this project arose from a short story called “Johnny Mnemonic” by William Gibson, in which a man’s brain is turned into a sort of repository for information that he transports from client to recipient. With the Medium Machine, Peter hoped to effect a similar repository–albeit without removing the user’s memory to make room for it. Again, the muscles are connected to stimulation, this time encoded by the computer in a certain pattern or message. The contractions force the finger to push a button in a cadence that could mean anything–until it is decoded by the right person.

“The human becomes a medium and a messenger between systems,” Peter wrote. Just like in the story! The possibilities for discovery and the applications of the science are endless. 

Medium Machine from Peter Buczkowski on Vimeo.

We are very intrigued to follow along with Peter as he pursues these projects and starts more. He is currently working with other innovators to create business plans for their projects. Learn more about Peter’s work on his website, http://peterbuczkowski.com

Do you have an application of our products, or a story to share about your own work? Send us a message at hello@backyardbrains.com!