I have a sneaking suspicion that neither the accurate detection of binary signals using EEG nor the accurate communication of binary signals using TMS is particularly groundbreaking... in which case, the only thing novel about this study is that the researchers decided to pair the two.
Indeed: to put it charitably, the whole thing is a farce. The EEG part is nothing new (note it's an off-the shelf component from one of their sponsors/employers); and neither are electrically-induced phosphenes [1] which, by the way, in this case (non-invasive TMS) consist of
little more than single, barely perceptible, indistinct flashes induced every time the device is turned on, one for each 'bit' --about the crudest possible way to 'send' information directly into a brain, if you ask me.
But then, once you read their conflict of interest statement, all that ridiculous overselling suddenly makes much more sense.
Indeed: to put it charitably, the whole thing is a farce. The EEG part is nothing new (note it's an off-the shelf component from one of their sponsors/employers); and neither are electrically-induced phosphenes [1] which, by the way, in this case (non-invasive TMS) consist of little more than single, barely perceptible, indistinct flashes induced every time the device is turned on, one for each 'bit' --about the crudest possible way to 'send' information directly into a brain, if you ask me.
But then, once you read their conflict of interest statement, all that ridiculous overselling suddenly makes much more sense.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphene