Maxim Williams

Current Project:

My project, currently titled “Anatomically Grounded Calibration Method for Non-Invasive Nerve Interfaces”, focuses on the forearm.

I am trying to create a calibration algorithm for a High Density surface Electromyography (HD-sEMG). This would create an invariant mapping of muscle activation based on individual anatomy, increasing the ease of use of this type of device. 

This would be achieved through activations and comparative analysis of signal pattern changes to explore robustness and transferability of the calibration across users. The project bases itself onto fundamental of muscle systems to create signatures that can be used for calibration of the device.

This project would have applied outcomes for next‐generation interface technologies. One example could be the creation of a virtual 3D keyboard that could be used to interact with any screen (laptop, VR headset, Meta glasses...). The set-up could entirely be personalised based on the most efficient movements of each individual and be calibrated to their muscular signature. 

HD-sEMG array (original set-up)

My driving force is the integration, and eventual symbiosis, of human and artificial intelligences.  

The nervous system and computers are both extremely fast and sophisticated systems. However I believe that the speed of communication is in part limited to the ways in which we interact with silicon based systems. Our hands, for example, are a critical choke point between the exchange of information between both systems. I therefore believe that faster and more intergrated methods exist for this exchange of information between natural and artificial intelligences.

This is particularly important as the technological singularity approaches. A symbiotic relationship between natural (carbon) and artificial (silicon) intelligences would be, to me, the solution to avoiding many of the issues relating to sentient AI. All of this stemming from a more seamless integration of biology and technology.