Assistive technologies that are meant to integrate brain and computer: Accepted or rejected by society?

The number of research papers in the area of Brain Computer Interface (BCI) assistive technologies is increasing rapidly. In addition, there is a possibility that some prosthetic models based on BCI will soon be available on the market. However, the acceptance and the degree of information that lay people have about this kind of technology is still unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the diffusion of this top-of-the-edge technology and its acceptance by society. We developed a structured questionnaire and we applied it, in a single day, to passersby in downtown of an urban city with over one million people in Southeastern Brazil. The results showed that almost a third of 336 interviewees (mean age of 37 year-old, range from 15 to 89 years) had never heard about such technology. Most (89 %) of the other two thirds that had already heard of it affirmed that BCI based technologies would help in cases of incapacitating physical disabilities. No association was found when confronting the pattern of the answers with demographical data (p>O.05). We conclude that there is a positive attitude towards assistive technology by the society. The majority of the interviewees claimed to know about it, but it seems that the knowledge is superficial and based on broad science diffusion media. The literature on BCI acceptance is still very limited. Approximation between the scientific community and the end users is advised to bring adequate information and to decrease the degree of fantasy naturally related to this area, avoiding future false expectations.