SCANNING through large amounts of images or video footage can be time-consuming and laborious. Now a machine that taps into the processing power of your brain can help you do it much faster.

The device, called the cortically coupled computer vision system (C3Vision), was developed by Paul Sajda and colleagues at Columbia University in New York. It uses an electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure electrical activity in the brain via skull-cap electrodes, while the user scans through images. If the user sees an image that grabs their attention, such as a picture of a crime suspect, the EEG will pick up a spike of electrical activity in their brain 300 milliseconds later, something known as a P300 response. This occurs well before the user can click a button to say they saw the picture. A connected computer can then collect all the images associated with a P300 response.

Sajda says the ...