The ability to control devices with the Spiritand to connect to another user in realtimeremote control wireless It may seem impracticable, but science is working to enable these sci-fi perspectives that could pave the way for certain forms of telekinesis and telepathy. Two studies aimed at investigating this possibility were both published in the journal eLight, conducted by scientists from the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves, Southeast University, Air Force Engineering University, and the National University of Singapore, respectively. The first was carried out by the two research groups Wireless communication between two human heads and between mind and computer, exploiting the special properties of metamaterials, ie artificially created carriers characterized by extraordinary physical properties electromagnetic.
The first works were led by Tie Jun Cui of the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves. His team developed an electromagnetic brain-computer metasurface (EBCM), which has a proven ability to control the synthesis of information and wireless transmissions between operators in a non-invasive way. To establish the connection, the user is in front of a screen that displays various commands and can be easily viewed by setting one of the available options, can make their own choice. Brain signals are decoded thanks to a headgear that sends commands to controlled objects without requiring any muscle activity on the part of the operator. This approach, the scientists report, has also been used in mental communication between two users. The mechanism is based on a graphical interface (GUI) of text, with the visual buttons directly encoded as a specific binary sequence consisting of “0” and “1”. The sender sends letters simply by looking at the buttons on the interface. The target letter is actually decoded and implemented into an ASCII sequence while manipulating the metasurface to send information. When the signal is received by the recipient’s media, the EBCM reprocesses the message that is displayed on the other graphical interface. “The average insertion time of each character is about five seconds – explains Tie Jun Cui – but it is possible to optimize the speed of text input by applying some fast-typing paradigms.”
In the second study, conducted by Shaobo Qu Jiafu Wang and Cheng Wei Qiuresearchers have made a significant step towards real-time remote control of metamaterials. In fact, researchers have developed a framework capable of collecting the user’s brainwaves and processing them as metasurface control signals. Transmitted to the controller via Bluetooth, the operator’s brainwaves could manage the scattering pattern directly. On-site programming, the authors specify, could allow the creation of multi-function programmable metasurfaces (PM) that are switchable and further integrated with sensors or controlled by pre-defined software. The ability to self-adapt significantly improves the device’s response rate, eliminating the need for human involvement. The final design can also be adjusted to increase the accuracy of the resulting equipment.
The researchers want to continue their studies and combine this approach with new intelligent algorithms to optimize the control processes of functional or multifunctional metasurfaces. The ultimate goal is the development of platforms that are controlled directly from the user’s mind, in real time and without physical connection. This perspective could find application in multiple fields ranging from health monitoring to 5G/6G communications and smart sensors. “This work – comment the scientists – could pave the way for a new research direction aimed at exploring the deep integration between metasurfaces, human and artificial intelligence in order to build new generations of biointelligent metasurface systems”.
by Valentina DiPaola