Comment Re:It really is complicated (Score 3, Interesting) 68
It is indeed complicated. Putting on and taking off an EEG array properly takes a couple of hours, which has made home applications of EEG for communication with paralyzed patients impractical. As such, surgically-implanted (brain surface, called intracranial) EEG is being explored for these patients, but would never be used without a very severe disability.
Another technology, functional near-infra-red spectroscopy (fNIRS), is also be explored. This is still at an early stage. The group of Rainer Goebel at Maastricht University (Netherlands), for example, is working on this. This technique uses light to measure changes in blood flow caused by neural activity, so does not require electrical contacts through a conductive gel like EEG does. This would be more practical at home, you could put on a helmet. It is also relatively cheap. The main drawback is that fNIRS can only see activity just under the scalp, so you have to find a brain area to measure from that is in just the right place. This takes some initial setup for each subject, ideally in a hospital using functional MRI.
So in short, there is no current technology that can do what you want properly, but fNIRS will probably be the best bet in the medium term.
(p.s. I work in brain imaging tech development)