May 11, 2017

“… and it tells us if there’s an increase or decrease of oxygenation in that area of the brain,” Dr. Hasan Ayaz was saying, holding up what looked like a neoprene scuba hood covered in plastic nodes and protruding wires. It reminded me of Doc Brown’s mind-reading helmet in Back to the Future. I tried to picture Ayaz with bug eyes and his hair grown out to mad-scientist wildness, but he’s a real-life scientist in Drexel University’s biomedical engineering department, with a firm handshake, a neatly trimmed dark beard, and designer eyeglasses. And, as my mind wandered to movie scientists, he’d been talking in measured tones about how the space-age scuba hood in his hands—as well as an equally sci-fi node-covered headband connected to another monitor nearby—can show him whether its wearer is engaged or disengaged in what he or she is doing; if the wearer is really listening to a lecture, say, or if her thoughts have wandered off …

Read the full Interview