[September 28, 2009] Helmet study aims at handless control Tweet Sep 28, 2009 (The Commercial Appeal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The University of Memphis has launched a multi-million-dollar research center that plans to develop a thought-reading helmet that would let pilots fly aircraft without using their hands. Research projects at the Center of Large-Scale Integrated Optimization Networks, known as CLION, will make science-fiction fantasies become realistic inventions, said Shaye Mandle, executive director of the FedEx Institute of Technology. U of M held a two-day symposium last week at the institute to mark the center's formation, plan projects and solicit additional funding. "This is truly a global collection of world-class top leaders," Mandle said. The center has about $2 million in funding from national agencies including the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Army Research Office, NASA and local corporations such as FedEx. The research team at the center includes U of M professors and students from engineering, mathematics and computer departments. The center will collaborate with other universities to study information and sensor fusion. The lead project, which studies brain-computer interfaces, will create gadgets that can be used to help disabled and elderly people become self-reliant, develop handless video games and operate complex machines with brain waves, said professor and CLION director Robert Kozma. Using a scalp EEG -- a blanket of electrodes worn like a cap -- Kozma hopes to discover how to give people the power to control objects with their thoughts. Although Kozma estimates it will be at least four years before researchers understand how to master complicated tasks using brain waves, the center's plan and potential has impressed researchers and business leaders. Rob Carter, FedEx Corp. vice president, said work planned at CLION "dims the lights of even our data center. ... I am personally very gratified to see dreamers, thinkers and doers coming together in a positive way to impact the university." -- Juanita Cousins: 529-2594 To see more of The Commercial Appeal or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.commercialappeal.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]