Direct brain-to-brain interface links up humans over the Internet

Scientists at the University of Washington (UW) connected the brains of two human subjects in different buildings in order to have them play a video game in the most roundabout way since Twitch played Pokémon. One participant, the sender, was equipped with an electroencephalography helmet that monitored brain signals. The receiver wore a different piece of technology that used transcranial magnetic stimulation to activate a region of the brain associated with hand movement. The sender thought about pressing a button to fire a virtual cannon that protected a virtual city. The brain activity was then sent across the Internet and converted into a magnetic signal that caused the receiver’s hand to twitch and press the fire button. Success rates ranged from 25% to 83%, UW Today reports.