The Honda Research Institute Japan Co., Ltd. (HRI-JP), a subsidiary of Honda R & D CO. LTD.., Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) and Shimadzu Corporation, have jointly developed the first world an interface to control the movements of a robot with the brain (Brain Machine Interface) technology that uses an electroencephalograph (EEG) and infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), along with the newly developed information retrieval technology that enables only control a robot with human thought. It requires no physical movement, such as pressing buttons. This technology will be further developed for many applications in the future, through integration with intelligent technologies and / or robotic technologies.

During the process of human thought, there is a slight electric current and the change of blood flow in the brain. The most important factor in the development of technology BMI (Brain Machine Interface) is the accuracy of the measurement and analysis of these changes. The new technology uses the BMI EEG, which measures changes in electrical potential of the scalp, and NIRS, which measures changes in cerebral blood flow, with a new development of information extraction technology that allows the statistical treatment of the complex information in these two types of sensors. As a result, it was possible to distinguish brain activity with high accuracy without any physical movement, when and only with human thought.

BMI technology announced by JP-HRI and ATR in 2006, used a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan brain activity. The breadth of powerful magnetic fields generated by the fMRI scanner limited locations and conditions under which could use. Because the new measurement device, everything has changed, and can be transported and used in numerous locations.