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Public lecture

How brain-machine interfaces can improve the lives of persons with disabilities

Campus and Community

By Jackey Locke

Brain-machine interfaces (BMI) are technologies that provide a direct communication pathway between the brain and an external device, and could greatly improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities and have shown promise in many applications.

Sarah Power has brown hair and is wearing a v-neck burgundy sweater and necklace.
Dr. Sarah Power
Photo: Chris Hammond

These could range from controlling computers and wheelchairs using thoughts alone, to helping to recover lost hand function following stroke.

Beyond this, researchers are looking into potential uses for BMIs in a variety of non-medical applications, from human performance augmentation to neuromarketing.

In an upcoming public lecture, Memorial University’s Dr. Sarah Power will dive deeper into what brain-machine interfaces are, how they work, the current state-of-the-art and the potential applications for persons with disabilities, as well as the general population. She will also talk about some of the important ethical issues involved in these technologies.

Hosted by the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial and the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists N.L., the event will be held virtually on Wednesday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m. (NST) and is open to everyone.

This event is part of Research Week 2021. For this and other events, please visit here.

To register for this event and/or to join the event via Webex on the evening of Nov. 24, please visit here.


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