Human To Human Interface Instructions

Background

1. (RECORDING PART) Please have a look at the following link for detailed information https://backyardbrains.com/experiments/humanhumaninterface . Briefly, nerve fibers in your arm generate enough electrical signal to be recorded by the electrodes on attached to your skin. Arduino circuit and SpikerShield sorter amplify this input and send logic signals to the stimulator part of the setup.

2. (STIMULATION PART) The interface we use incorporates a "transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation" (TENS) device to deliver stimuli to your nerves. If you would like to get more background on how the electrodes on a TENS device stimulate nerves (and also how people are tryting to use such devices for the treatment of chronic pain or other disorders) have a brief look at https://www.dropbox.com/s/omwalxas9ncx1dz/Transcutaneous%20electrical%20nerve%20stimulation.pdf?dl=0 .

3. To connect the stimulator, place two surface EMG electrodes close to each other across the ulnar nerve. The nerve runs up the back of your forearm. We recommend placing the electrodes just past the elbow on the backside of the forearm, but you can experiment with placement! Anywhere on the forearm will probably trigger a response, but getting closer to a big nerve will get a larger response with less electrical current.

   

What to do on practical?

1. There will be several H-to-H interfaces, and students in each block will have to split into groups of approximately 10. Each group should also form pairs of students who will be stimulating each other and vice versa (Please allow about 8 minutes for each pair of students).

2. After students split in groups, they will be asked to assemble the setup out of the box according to the simple manual sheet that is attached to each H2H interface.

3. Before session of each pair of students, students will be asked to place the patch electrodes to proper positions on their arms. Before you attach the electrodes, make sure that stimulator (black box) is turned off and only turn it on after you set everything else up! Start with lower pulse widths and frequencies, increase over time until an involuntary movement is noticed in the receiver. Electrodes can be repositioned, so you can try different positions over arm for different effects
4. Do not place electrodes across the muscles of the throat or the chest!
5. The setup should look something like this:

Discussion

1. Can we differentiate brain pathways of voluntary and involuntary movement?
2. What are necessary components for controlling a human? What about the ethical implications?
3. What happens when a third person moves the “recorder’s hand”, instead of the "recorder" intentionally moving their hand? Would that also work? Explain.