Is Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) becoming desperate when it wants to study consumer brain patterns to find out why its competitors are so successful? Microsoft Research wants to expand its presence in 'brain-computer interfaces' for its coming push into natural computer interfaces that will someday replace keyboards and mice. Of course, Ole' Softie has been talking about speech recognition for what seems like an eternity. So far, it has barely taken off in the consumer marketplace from what I have seen. Does anyone you now interact with their PC using mostly voice commands?

Microsoft competitor Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) made the computer mouse popular nearly three decades ago to really jump-start user interaction with PCs, and added 'multi-touch' to 2007's iPhone to again invent another way of computer interaction. What else is coming down the road? Whatever it is, Microsoft wants to be there first this time. The world's largest software maker seems to be honing in on reading a customer's mind to enable PC interaction. Science fiction? So far, yes -- but possibly not for long.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), whose internet search engine finds results to customer queries in what seems like perfect fashion, isn't staying back from this field either. Although Google is keeping mum on its ambitions to connect the human mind with a computer system or interface, it continues honing its artificial intelligence systems that power those instant search results millions of times an hour around the world. Google, though, is famous for keeping things under wraps until a release date is imminent. I guess we'll have to wait and see which is first, if any.

[The author holds a long position in MSFT]