A unique device developed by a team at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rechovot might enable numerous disabled people to navigate wheelchairs or communicate with their loved ones, based on inhaling and exhaling through the nose. Sniffing technology might even be used in the future to create a sort of ‘third hand,’ to assist healthy surgeons or pilots.
The new system identifies changes in air pressure inside the nostrils and translates these into electrical signals. Variations in sniffs give the device’s developers the opportunity to create a complex ‘language’ with multiple signals. The new system is relatively inexpensive to produce, and simple and quick to learn to operate in comparison with other brain-machine interfaces, such as those based on the blinking of eyes
The device was tested on healthy volunteers as well as quadriplegics. Four of those who participated in the experiments are already using a new writing system associated with the technology, and Yeda Research and Development Company, Ltd., – the technology transfer arm of the Weizmann Institute – is investigating the possibilities for developing and distributing the technology.