Plum’s IVR systems rely heavily on speech-recognition software to make understanding you a breeze. Because of that, I spend most of my day thinking about speech-rec and its applications, both inside and out of the IVR industry.

Speech recognition, though, isn’t the only kind of communication recognition available these days. Everywhere you look, developers are updating their products with gesture recognition (like the kind used by the Kinect) or voice recognition (which focuses on recognizing specific voices instead of understanding words like our IVR systems do).

And now, according to Extreme Tech, there’s even thought recognition.

It’s pretty much exactly what you would assume – scientists and developers have found a way to connect your brain to your computer. These systems are called brain computer interfaces, or BCIs, and they work kind of like an MRI machine.

Traditionally, they use some sort of headset like an EEG machine with sensors on your scalp that reports your brain activity to a software program that works out what you’re trying to say.

Now this is a bit more complicated than speech-rec software or gesture recognition (not to mention more expensive), so these set-ups have only been used in high-tech medical settings up to this point.

Thanks to new developments and further research, though, BCIs are now available for consumer purchase and use for only $200-300. With the availability of an open-source API, developers can create complimentary programs that can hook right up to your computer and let you control your other software with your mind.

Despite these leaps and bounds in the field of mind recognition, it looks like it’ll be a little while before we can jump to IVR systems that swap speech-rec for thought-rec. That’s because not only do these systems tend to cost more, but there are some added security concerns.

Mainly, there’s the risk of a mental hack…

…Stay tuned for the rest in “Hacking Your Brain”…