People who have lost the ability to talk are offered devices that allow selection of letters on a screen using head, cheek or eye movements. This is how Hawking communicates. But brain-machine interfaces are being developed hoping that there may be a intuitive way of communicating. They involve reading brain activity, externally or via an implant, and turning it into a signal that can be used to direct something in the environment. Current divises are slow. The designers wanted to make a device that was quicker and easier to use than those currently in trials. As a participant thought about moving different body parts, computers translated the associated brain activity into movements of a cursor on a screen. By improving the speed at which the computer decode the brain activity, the team could minimise the time between thought and cursor movement. In 1 day, the participants learned to control the cursor to select letters and type words on a screen. It’s two to four times faster!