Bioengineers have created a “psychic robot” that can see what humans intend to do even if they don’t do it. The robot uses an algorithm that could eventually power cars and prosthetics of the future — allowing them to understand what their owners are trying to do with them, even if they get stopped mid-way.

Explaining the rationale behind his successful invention, lead author Justin Horowitz said the robot uses a mathematical algorithm to understand intent, and not actual movement — so it doesn’t matter if someone stops doing something. “If you know how someone is moving and what the disturbance is, you can tell the underlying intent. We could use this algorithm to design machines that could correct the course of a swerving car or help a stroke patient with spasticity,” he said.

The invention will allow robots to become much more understanding of humans by replicating the way we respond to events.

“Say you’re reaching for a piece of paper and your hand is bumped mid-reach — your eyes take time to adjust; your nerves and brain take time to process what has happened; and even more time to get a new signal to your hand, which may take a tenth of a second,” Horowitz said.

Because it knows what we are aiming to do, it could be built into the cars of the future, Horowitz said. “If we hit a patch of ice and the car starts swerving, we want the car to know where we meant to go,” he said. “For that it has to know which movements of the wheel represent my intention, and which are responses to an environment that’s already changed,” he added.

It might help prosthetics to be able to keep doing what people intend for them to do, even if they are interrupted by something like a muscle spasm. The algorithm will be able to tell their intent and act on that, independent of what else is happening.

Source: http://goo.gl/aw3y7s