This Toronto girl can use her thoughts to move her wheelchair. Here's how
While it sounds like something out of an X-Men movie, young patients at Toronto’s Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital can really move objects with their own thoughts.
The hospital has been researching Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology and is the first pediatric hospital worldwide to use it in a clinical setting.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
The technology allows 8-year-old Giselle Alnaser to move her Power Chair Trainer, which she demonstrated to CTV News Toronto. It starts by teaching the software how Alnaser’s brain works with sensors on a headset detecting her brain activity pattern while at rest.
It registers a different pattern when Alnaser thinks more actively; her mom typically cheers her on as she does.
Dots on a computer screen show the difference between a resting state, indicated with a red dot, and her desire for movement indicated with a green dot.
The headset is connected to a platform, where her wheelchair is mounted, and which moves forward when she commands it.
“It’s really going to give kids the opportunity to experience the joy of movement,” occupational therapist Susannah Van Damme said.
Samah Darwish says her daughter was thrilled with the technology when she first tried it three years ago.
“She loved it. She was surprised how she really activated something by herself without needing to ask anyone to help her with it.”
On this particular day, Alnaser is able to navigate her way through a colourful tunnel. On other days, her headset is connected to a bubble-making machine that spurts soap bubbles when triggered by her brain commands.
While she has one command right now, her therapists hope Alnaser can soon develop a different pattern of brain waves to create a second way to command devices.
For now, the technology is only used recreationally. It can’t be used to navigate around a school, for example. But it can offer kids who are often isolated a chance to play interactively in small groups at the rehab centre.
Naser Alnaser, Giselle’s father, says it offers a glimpse of what the future might hold.
“It’s really emotional to start with” he says, “and yeah, it’s like seeing a glimpse of hope”.
This March, the BCI program is being highlighted during “Capes for Kids” week. Holland Bloorview’s annual fundraising campaign hopes to raise a million dollars for programs like BCI, summer camps, music therapy and more.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Slovakia's populist prime minister shot in assassination attempt, shocking Europe before elections
Slovakia's populist prime minister, Robert Fico, was shot multiple times and gravely wounded Wednesday after a political event in an attempted assassination that shocked the small country and reverberated across Europe.
Transport Canada's UFO 'lead' planned to meet with U.S. intel officials, called info requests a 'wild goose chase'
Canada's transportation department had a UFO 'lead' who tried to 'quell' media interest and planned to meet with U.S. intelligence officials.
'Very expensive lunch': Sask. driver handed a cell phone ticket for using points app in McDonald's drive-thru
A warning from a Saskatoon driver about using your fast-food app while in the drive-thru line — a trip to get some free lunch cost him a lot more than he bargained for.
'The Fly' has become notorious in France after a brazen escape. What's his criminal history?
A prisoner nicknamed “The Fly” has become notorious in France overnight after a daring and bloody escape from a prison convoy in Normandy that left two guards dead.
Ontario's 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski arrested
Aiden Pleterski, the self-proclaimed 'crypto king' from Whitby, Ont., has been arrested in Durham Region after allegedly running a Ponzi scheme worth more than $40 million.
Barge hits a bridge in Texas, damaging the structure and causing an oil spill
A barge slammed into a bridge pillar in Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday, spilling oil into surrounding waters and closing the only road to a smaller and separate island that is home to a university, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Person responsible for 1996 drugging of 'Titanic' crew likely not a local: Halifax police
Halifax Regional Police believe a non-resident could be responsible for the infamous drugging of numerous crew members of the 'Titanic' movie with a hallucinogenic in 1996.
Latest updates on the biggest wildfires burning in Canada
Thousands of people in Western Canada remain displaced from their homes as wildfires threaten their communities, triggering evacuation orders and alerts.
OPINION If you think you can’t focus for long, you’re right: Sandee LaMotte
Regaining your focus requires you to be mindful of how you are using technology -- a daunting task if you consider the average American spends at least 10 hours a day on screens.