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Think And Click
cecil36 writes: "Yahoo! has reported that scientists have discovered neural technology that allowed a monkey to control a mouse cursor using the brain. ... Further reading states that this technology can be used with the paralyzed or those with Lou Gehrig's Disease to allow them to use their computers."
Better than an optical mouse, it's...a cognitive mouse?
Technical Writer?
Just when we thought the world was safe from Steven Hawkings, he can now give more boring lectures by "zapping" words directly into a terminal using his brain.
dinner: it's what's for beer
They used the monkey's internal wiring to allow it to manipulate a peripheral "arm" that was attached to a "hand" with several digits allowing not only the movement of the mouse but also pressing of buttons as well.
Hooray for Science!
...does that mean we're now going to have to design computers that are easy enough for a monkey to use?
The new distribution's name could be: Mandrill Linux 8.2 (also known as Red Butt Linux...)
Hmmm...I guess those Ximian guys have been on to this for a while...
Reminder: find a new sig
Reference to the MS April Fool's press release a few years ago.
And for some reason, we kept getting all these different screenplays...something called "Hamlet", and another called "Othello"...
That and complaints about having wires jammed in its brain...
...but it's being eaten...by some...Linux or something...
I'd sure hate to be the monkey.
Is that I will no longer be beatable in any FPS game. My mental aim is flawless. You are all dead.
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
Wouldn't it be embarrassing to find your computer downloading pr0n everytime one of those Herbal Essences commercials comes on the TV?
Shockwave Flash movies are the greatest thing to happen to non-sequitur humor since Japan.
"Going one step further, her team then trained the monkey to simply think about a movement, without reaching out and touching the screen."
So how exactly do you train a monkey to think about doing something without doing it? I'm quite surprised that they were able to do that with the current level of communication between primates and humans.
~Eric
...scientists have discovered neural technology that allowed a monkey to control a mouse cursor...
That's right. AOL 7.0 is all new, and easier than ever!
do not read this line twice.
"He's shaking! Did he develop Parkinson's Disease?!?!"
No, he's just clicking on pron sites...
this technology can be used with the paralyzed or those with Lou Gehrig's Disease to allow them to use their computers.
That's nice and all, but better yet, it can be used by lazy bastards like me who don't want to burn the calories it takes to work the mouse.
-- Sigs are for losers
Well thats pretty neat, albeit very intrusive. I think it goes without saying that this is a long way off from being used with human patients, but maybe some day.
One thing that has occured to me, and you're going to think I'm nuts, but I wonder if this would improve my q3 accuracy. No.. but seriously.. it might...
Sigs are awesome huh?
This is old tech (circa 1997)...
Guvegrra?
Lou Gehrig's Disease? How'd he not see that one coming?
...the "other" scientists have made a breakthrough where a "monkey" can be controlled by another "monkey" via a remote system.
Paranoia or just a joke... you decide.
WOW! Surf pr0n totally HANDS-FREE!
But seriously, if this pans out, imagine the developments for those who have the use of their hand as well as those who don't. Vehicle and machine controls come to mind(operate manually while accessing computerized info via handsfree), as well as one heck of a video-game. The "it could kill you" seems a little far-fetched to me tho, if properly implemented.
Two people with these things and radio tramsmitters could potentialy communicate "telepathicly". Awesome.
Im not here now... Im out KILLING pepperoni
A new trend in internet marketing:
Company with slogan
I Think Therefore I Spam.
employee base, 500 monkeys.
shoot the monkey and win bananna bucks!!!
Remember that you are unique, just like everybody else.
The article doesn't have much detail on the actual transmition of the signal. Well other than the fact that I would hesistate to stick anything in my head these days, I wonder how precise an activity like this is. Signal could be effected by other signals in the area. Like how hearing implants can be effected by cellphones.
Oh well still seems cool.
Maybe a better application of this would be for 3D apps in the future. 3D Mice suck.
Word.
mmmm... monkey brains good with toast
"We deal in lead" - Roland of Gilead
If this comes out you'd better be careful about what your thinking when that naughty pop-ad appears.
Good to see Katz is taking Dubya up on his volunteerism agenda and making himself available as a research subject.
This is really nothing new.
The Cyberlink Interface: Hands Free Brain-Body Actuated Control for Augmentation and Enhancement of Human Computer Interaction(produced in 1999), and their website
And an article from last year about a similar device.
does that mean every 10 min the mouse will draw out lewd shapes on the screen?
I wonder how well this works in Quake. Would the cursor instantly snap to the location you were thinking of, or would you have to think 'move left some, then move up some', and if it's the later, what kind of sensitivity would it have?
What if I were using this technology to control a remote control arm, and thought about making a middle finger at someone I was frustrated with. Or one of the many impulsive thoughts that go through everyone's mind each day. Would this be unavoidable?
Would a person have to worry about fantasies and whims that pass through our minds being acted out?
That would make me feel almost more trapped, in a way.
mark
If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. -- Carl Sagan
Does this mean that I can finaly have the "Focus Follow's Brain" option in my window manager? I'm tired of telling people in IRC what shell commands I'm trying to run and I don't like my naughty IRC comments being logged in .bash_history.
Why is it so hot? Where am I going? What am I doing in this handbasket?
This will allow me to keep both hands free while I surf for porn.
Hammer of Truth
"Even more challenging are ``Terminator''-type applications that would allow the minds of healthy individuals to meld with machines"
um did you see terminator?
If thats where this technology leads you can count me out.
-
Sigh.. guess I'll have to start wearing my tin-foil hat again.
More seriously, how did they know that the monkey was thinking about moving stuff ? Maybe 'move cursor left' was actually 'damnit let me out of this crappy chair'.. Also, how erratic were the cursor movements? Could be fun to play UT with that (and reserving your hands to more useful purposes, like eating or punching your oppenents.)
Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me
Getting the monkey to understand where you want to move the mouse.
.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I saw this on a special about 'future tech' on PBS one time. the US Air Force was working on it. The current system used electrodes on the forehead.
Also, there was a biofeedback-based game controller that looked like a Secret Decoder Ring or something, that a guy was playing a skiing game with.
Alright now all we need a plane you could fly this way :)
:)
:)
Seriously think of the plethora of military applications, Im sure they are. I wonder how much room for error or lingering thoughts there is .
Its esay , sometimes to think about something and not pysically execute that movement. WHAT HAPPENS when you JUST THINK and it happens, I could think of all kinds of scenarios this would be MUY bad, remember the end of the first ghostbusters movie
Typing in this manner or "mousing" would be pretty cool if they could come up with a completley exeternal device, having wires sewn into my brain sac dont sound like much fun. Hopefully this is a firt step in 2 way electronic to neural communication links, think about what a computer could teach a person who was say paralyzed, analyze neural paths and make calculated reccomndations for rerouting directly to the brain, that was your movement would be through EXISTING undamaged pathways, then again a glitch in the software might make you wet your pants every time you try to scratch you foot but hey its progress
Sig went tro...aahemmm.....fishing........
I remember watching some PBS show about a decade ago that had humans doing this.... Being able to control a small cursor to an extent. Is this really new or what?
The article mentions that it will hopefully help people who are paralyzed or have Lou Gehrig's Disease. If a person had Parkinson's Disease, would the cursor just jump around the screen? What about Alzheimer's, does the cursor start to move toward a button, then wander about aimlessly? And of course, with the ADA forcing government websites to have "sticky buttons" for blind people, how will that be implemented?
From the article:
...Even more challenging are ``Terminator''-type applications that would allow the minds of healthy individuals to meld with machines--allowing drivers to ``think'' their way through traffic, for example, or granting pilots the ability to navigate the skies with their mind....
I can see it now... "Pilot falls asleep at the wheel.. Dreams of 20,000 leagues under the sea... 300 dead..."
This article lacks details, but I don't understand how they're going to turn moving a cursor into piloting a 20-ton rocket-powered tin can...
Because most people do not think before they click. Hence to effectiveness of goatse.cx links and the like.
Forcing users to think before clicking may vastly increase the quality of the internet.
One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
``In fact,'' she said, ``we found that he became quite reluctant to move his arm to the reach command once the cursor was introduced into the game. Apparently it was easier just to think about reaching.''
Wow, this is good news not just for the handicapped but also for those of us who are just plain lazy. Often times I find myself _thinking_ of doing things but never actually _doing_ them.
I Heart Sorting Networks
Guys: just think of the possibilities! Browsing your favorite porn site, navigating through it with your mind, both hands off the keyboard... ^_~;
I think, therefore, I'm smarter than our president.
US Patent #5,960,412 : One-Thought-Shopping:
A method and system for placing an order to purchase an item via the Internet. The order is placed by a purchaser at a client brain and received by a server system. The server system receives purchaser information including identification of the purchaser, payment information, and shipment information from the client brain. The server system then assigns a client identifier to the client brain and associates the assigned client identifier with the received purchaser information. The server system sends to the client system the assigned client identifier and an HTML document identifying the item and including an order button. The client brain receives and stores the assigned client identifier and receives and displays the HTML document. In response to the selection of the order button, the client brain sends to the server system a request to purchase the identified item. The server system receives the request and combines the purchaser information associated with the client identifier of the client brain to generate an order to purchase the item in accordance with the billing and shipment information whereby the purchaser effects the ordering of the product by selection of the order button.
the website for the lab has a more high-falutin' description of the lab's general research area; note that neither the lab site nor the most recent paper that i could find mentions the "monkey plays video games" experiment in detail.
Why would you use a monkey, they had to train him to think about moving with out moving. First off how do you do that, why not use a human?
Yes but every time I try to see it your way, I get a headache.
Step 2: Record neural signature before and during actions of Step 1.
Step 3: Remove mouse from monkey.
Step 4: Show picture of food along with picture of mouse cursor, at a random relative angle.
Step 5: Reward monkey if and only if detecting neural signature of monkey making correct mouse vector movement.
Step 6: Repeat steps 4 and 5.
Step 7: Publish statistics.
Frankly, I won't be satisfied until they wire the monkey's brain to the Universal Translator
I think the applications for wearable computing should excite everyone.
10: PRINT "Everything old is new again."
20: GOTO 10
I thought Apple kept their R&D top secret! Go iMonkey!
Further reading states that this technology can be used with the paralyzed or those with Lou Gehrig's Disease to allow them to use their computers." Now thats all great a dandy but wouldn't this technology better applied for artificial limbs that could function like a regular body part?
Let's see how Carmack intergrates this tech into his next FPS!!
3000 dead over past 2 years, still no free Palestinians, still
I think they meant that the surguery could kill you. Anytime you poke something in your brain, it has the potential to turn out bad. They could however, use the MRI to scan for the patterns, just like they used the MRI to record where it was happening, they just need a more sensitive MRI.
"Da ist ein Technölüst in mein Unterpanten!"
is because Dr. Sam Beckett was really inside the monkey's head.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Who needs sign language when you have a talking dictionary? www.ectaco.com/ut
As the article states, the monkeys controlled a screen cursor, not a mouse cursor. There was no mechanical pointing device (mouse, trackball, etc.) involved. What sets this research apart from other work done in this area is that electrodes were implanted directly into a specific, targeted, area of the brain. Other research had been done with either generalized implanted electrodes or surface electrodes (like are used on an EEG machine).
Chaos maximizes locally around me.
The real nifty applications will come when this neuronal interfacing technology will be used to bypass deficient nerve links (spine damage) or to supplement/replace deficient muscle (muscular dystrophy and a ton of other debilitating illnesses).
I think focusing on computers is missing the point. It's not the ability to send email that is important here. It's the possibility of having protheses and artificial capacities integrated in the neural feedback loop. Prothesic legs that 1) you can contol by thought instead of having to provide commands, and 2) send back balance information, now that would be a revolution.
We are getting closer. That's an excellent news.
--
Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/
These guys have had a commercially available
brain actuated mouse cursor gizmo out for years.
http://www.brainfingers.com/cyberlink.htm
hehehe... The mascot would be I.R. Baboon with a penguin tattooed to his butt.
Studies have shown that the human mind can re-allocate sections for other uses... perhaps instead of isolating the specific centers that perform these functions, they should find the general area and work on 'training the brain' It would be a hell of a lot easier and I bet the advances would move faster as well.
But I am just an idiot with a computer. No medical training here other than Discovery and TLC.
Sounds great and all... but does it come with a scroll wheel?
now even he can use the computer
Me too, although I had this off some Russian media at that time. I vaguely remember it, but IIRC, it was a Japanese company that was doing the research at that time, and they had a working prototype FOR HUMANS (not monkeys) that allowed channel flipping up or down. And they were saying they're looking into things like 2D movements + selection (equivalent of a 1-button mouse). I won't be surprised if someone can dig up an existing Japanese patent on this all from that time!
They also said then (in that article) that they started with electrodes hooked up to pretty random places on one's scull (maybe still within certain areas), then feeding it up to an oscillograph, and then, after a 15-minute training session, a human was always able (via the visual feedback) to do things with that waveform on the screen as instructed. Next step was their RC prototype. They said it required 15 minutes of training before it was usable.
OTOH, I don't think they seriously talked about applying this tech to people with disabilities then. Actually, they mentioned that they don't think any serious machinery hookup was possible at that stage because they feared glitches (like, someone frightens you, and your telepathic wheelchair uncontrollably rushes from the sidewalk and into the traffic...)
I don't see any of these addressed in this recent (/.-posted) article at all, BTW.
VKh
You have illegally cut and pasted Amazon.com's latest patent application onto this website. You will send me your name and address so my legal team, I. Cheatham and Howe, may begin legal procedings against you.
Okay. So you've replaced your mouse with a direct link to your brain. Let's say you're using Windows XP (because of brain damage from the operation). Does that mean that if you try to learn anything, Microsoft will charge you for upgrading your hardware?
If it is able to translate the data needed for mouse movement, how much harder would it be to get other forms of input?
Thought typing (direct dictation) would seem to be much faster than the fingers. It would be a short leap from there to get thought -> simulated speech working.
First we had an infinite number of monkeys with keyboards, now they have mice, too?
...allowed a monkey to control a mouse cursor...
They've been able to do that for a while I thought. They're called MCSEs.
`/\/\
(^.^)
(")(")
not quite an analog pussy, just a cat that plays with vinyl
Keyloggers are a thing of the past now! Now the big bad men in suits can just sit outside your apartment and scan your brainwaves to detect all your pr0n and warez passwords! Just think! Or...erm...don't!
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
This press release is kinda interesting. First, the work was presented over two months ago. Second, the work was carried out in the lab of Richard Andersen. Yet Andersen, who has spent a lot of the last decade reorganizing his lab around such efforts, was not mentioned. Instead, Meeker, a graduate student on the project was named. In addition, all this work in the Andersen lab was spearheaded by a person who is now at Stanford, Krishna Shenoy who recently left the lab. In addition, the intellectual property for the project, the patents, are co-authored by Andersen and Shenoy.
It's kinda weird when you know a bit about the work behind these press releases, and then see how it is actually presented to the "lay" public.
Personally, I think the project has a low probability of success. A neural prosthetic device should be interfaced with as peripheral part of the nervous system as possible. This group has chosen to use as abstract a part of the nervous system as possible. But maybe they'll prove me wrong.
neural technology that allowed a monkey to control a mouse
Anyone who has ever worked tech support knows that this technology is nothing new. Every day our voice mail is full of these mouse controlling monkey-brained folks.
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
Now I guess we can really find out if what my old coworkers used to say about monkeys beating me at Q3 deathmatch is true!
Their has already been progress in this area sans head wounds. Instead of jacking your head full of wires, sensors detect the electric activity of the brain through the scalp. The USAF was experimenting with flying planes this way but gave up after a few very promising results concluding that it would take too long to train pilots in this manner to be effective. There was also a few PBS specials about this last year. http://www.pbs.org/saf/1107/resources/resources-5. htm
RHh
"Moon's milk spills from my unquiet skull"
-Coil
Its esay , sometimes to think about something and not pysically execute that movement. WHAT HAPPENS when you JUST THINK and it happens, I could think of all kinds of scenarios this would be MUY bad, remember the end of the first ghostbusters movie :)
There is a real distinction here between "thinking about doing it" and "plan on doing it". You can think about doing lots of things, but this doesn't mean you will. This is important, because it actually applies here.
When you are about to move your mouse, some pre-initiation of the neurons that do the moving actually happens. This is happening about when your muscles start to contract, but before any actual movement happens.
In other words, you have to actually make a conscious effort to pretend to command your arm to move. It does not make your arm move, but it's a lot more like making the cursor move instead of thinking about it moving. This is the right behavior for such a system, IMHO.
So how exactly do you train a monkey to think about doing something without doing it?
I would ask why they even wasted their time training a monkey to *think* about moving a mouse. Just give him the mouse, and disconnect the damn thing.
THEN, if successful, maybe go to that step.. but since we don't need paralyzed monkey's moving mice, I would recommend doing something a little more useful.
"I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
Mefesto: And here is the Five assed Monkey!!!
finally he can surf the web without one of his asses getting in the way
Cool, which mean they will soon discovered neural technology that allowed a human to control a mouse cursor using the brain!
Since it requires a brain.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."
Hate to tell you people but this kind of thing isn't new. Sure, this latest development is a bit more advanced, but the science is far from new. Just look "biofeedback" on google and learn for yourself.
c ar .pdf
a n_ final.pdf
/. thinks I'm only an Anonymous Coward, I am actually...
Here are a few examples
http://www.lems.brown.edu/~scp/eegremotecontrol
http://www.discover.com/99awards/assist.html
http://immi.inesc.pt/alcacer01/procs/pdfs/colem
http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/context/22958/0
Though
mugwamp !!!!
While I'm sure this could substantially enhance the lives of the paralyzed (for example), the widespread use of such systems in e.g. driving or piloting (particularly by healthy individuals) could be a real problem.
If there's one lesson the Internet has taught us, it's that the less separation there is between thought and action, the more people will do stupid things.
The area of the brain mentioned in the article has to do with the early "desire to act", long before many of the normal checks and balances governing our actions come into play.
Has anyone seen the episode of Red Dwarf where Lister gets the prosthetic arm and can't stop it from beating up Kryten?
DNA just wants to be free...
About 15 years ago I remember reading in Antic about an Atari game control to do something like this. Not quite the same but reading the muscle inputs on your forehead. Here is a link: Atari Mindlink.
Makes me wonder though... will it be plug-n-pray or will I have to install a DLL? And... with XP wanting to know everything about the user... will it also want to know what I'm thinking? Makes the term HEAD CRASH have a whole new meaning (not to mention a HEAD COLD and other viruses).
And will I be violating DMCA by allowing another *mind* to use my mouse? What if I have multiple personalities... is that a single or multiple user license.
I'm confused.
. . .I'm all for increased computer accessibility, and this is an important step.
Everytime I'm out mountain biking, or inline skating, or kicking ass in a bar fight I worry about what I'll do if I break my arm or hand.
This technology isn't just for people with debilitating disease or amputees. It's for the punk who tried an eight foot jump on his cross country hardtail and bit it hard.
Here's an exercise for those of you reading this right now. Try to move to the last story without using your hands.
Anything that makes computers easier to use I'm all for.
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
The actual reseacrh described in the Yahoo article using implanted electrodes seems a bit strange - though the claim to have identified a few individual neurons is interesting.
Most of the other groups are working with stick-on electrodes. At the moment all they can do is move a mosue around a screen and click, but progress seems to be good - Correct recognition is around 70% after 5 one-hour sessions, which sounds impressive to me. The big obstacle to getting this into service for real people with disabilities is that the hardware is currently a bit chunky, especially the EEG machine. But we all know what happens to hardware, very, very quickly.
Oh - and, yes, the guy i talked to says the thing that secretlty drives him is eventually using it to play Quake. (Wonderful thing, altrusim)
Now wouldn't that be cool.(Unfortuantely you have to shave your head, I think!)
In a related story, Amazon.com has just filed a patent with the US Patent office for the "One-Thought Checkout Store".
... PRAY FOR MOJO
Great, here we go, next thing you know our decendants will be ruled by super monkeys.
Let me say it now 'Get your filthy paws off me you damned dirty clicking ape'.
Borg monkeys will be the bane of organ grinders everywhere.
Regards,
I am me...I think
It would be scary to think that this could be applied to video games.
Think of this: You are sitting there playing Quake3 with your mouse, and all of a sudden this guy comes in acting like a bot. But he is not a bot. He is a man that has the ability to 'think' his shots. This guy can be dead accurate every time, just by thinking of where to shoot, instead of having to rely on hand-eye response times.
I wonder if this would not scare most gamers.
--------------------------
Is this a sig?
--------------------------
5 mins after this article was posted my boss was on the phone with the zoo. Now he's telling me to take a week off.
Sean.OutaHere()
But what about ANAL COX?
Daniella is part of Richard Anderson's lab at Caltech. They research motor planning and spatial orientation. It is a very interesting place.
As pointed out in the article, the area from which they record makes this experiment significantly different from previous ones. Several lab have done similar work, but they were less sure of the origin of their signal. Much of the sensory and motors areas of the cortex are right next to each other. It was not clear whether the recorded signals were motor signals or sensory signals driven by stretch sensors within muscles or something similar. The area Daniella records from is fairly far away from sensory cortex. There is much less chance that they are recording feedback from the sensory side. For comparison, examine an older story from a team of competitors.
This is what I have waited for. A truly scientific project legalizing laziness to its extreme!! These guys have the budget and brains make something that will not sell and will be baught by some buziness minded content owner who will add VR googles and a multiuser 3D world.... Just like Count Zero's mummy was hooked up in the interactive soap opera (William Gibson) and killed during a date with the main male star in VR!! Virtual will goes real and vice versa. I will add Pizza Express to my stock portfolio asap
:-))
Now we are just waiting for the neural feedback generator brain plug-in and why not the enzyme dropper generator feeding your brain with controlled doozes of dope to get happy, sad, angry etc...
I will never get bored again!!!
i saw this technology being demo'd in it's infancy on PBS on a brain documentary of some sort about 5 years ago. the corner of the screen was outlined in the shape of an L, ranging from 50% up the screen, to 50% across. the lady was hooked up to i guess 15 electrodes, and had to "think" a certian way. depending on what she did, the "cursor" would accelerate rapidly twords the L, or far away from it. Eventually she got up to about a 35% accuracy rate, but that's early 90's technology for you.
moox. for a new generation.
Great! Now M$ will get a new monopoly and we'll all have to get a subsciption to WinHuman 2.0
Needing to crash for a while takes on a whole new meaning.
I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.
So, with this technology, someone who is paralyzed could theoretically use a computer. What about allowing the parapalegic to walk again? Gyroscopes to measure balance (this technology exists well in IT, as we have seen recently), and thought to say, "Hmmm.. I think I'd like to walk forward. Now backwards. Now left."
I'd love to see my parapalegic friend be able to ride his motorcycle with me without a side car some day.
-- Hi! I'm a
and I thought wireless mice/mouses and keyboards were cool.
Control a mouse? Oh a mouse cursor. Dang. And here I thought I'd have my unholy army of the night sooner than I had thought.
___
Cogito cogito, ergo cogito sum.
All this crap is sponsored by banner ad companies. When the technology is sufficiently developed, they will add motion feedback, so that our *thoughts* would be triggered by banners!! AWWW!
The details:
First the monkey was tricked into installing "Comet Cursor." Then, after the 17th X10 popup ad, he finally just began hurling feces at the monitor. Fortunately, Matthew Broderick came along and rescued him.
I love the part about how the monkey, once it realized that it didn't have to move in order to get the computer to respond, became reluctant to move.
This is much like what happens when a man gets a remote control - he becomes reluctant to move...
Seriously though, the question is, are the neurons they are watching affected by diseases like ALS? If so, then this sort of technique wouldn't benefit people like Dr. Hawking....
www.eFax.com are spammers
Years ago, sometime around 1995. I remember hearing about research -- and seeing news clips on TV about a similar technology.
.. or similar research along the same lines?
The Albany Medical Center in Upstate NY funded inhouse research into biofeedback devices for handicapped accessibility of computers. They showed an ANSI or VT100 terminal with a colored 'dot' that human test subjects could move about the screen after a bit of training.
I believe this was accomplished using magnetic resonance detectors of some sort on the surface of the skull. Im not completely sure about this part.
I always wondered what happened to that technology and why I had not heard anything since. Can anyone provide links/insight to back this up?
"...or those with Lou Gehrig's Disease to allow them to use their computers."
whoa....the mighty stephen hawking (already a "fucking quake master") with implants...step back.
...You say, "impressive", I already know it,
I'm a hardcore player and I'm not afraid to show it.
I got a Phd in pain and a masters in disaster,
the mighty Stephen Hawking is a fucking QuakeMaster...
every good
-sk
Further reading states that this technology can be used with the paralyzed or those with Lou Gehrig's Disease to allow them to use their computers
Come on... what about "the lazy"? I'm sick of pushing down keys and clicking the mouse, it's like doing thousands of tiny push-ups every day! I don't need this strain!!!
hands-free pr0n
akad0nric0
This sentence no verb.
Has nobody noticed that Daniella Meeker is beautiful, for real.
I have to communicate with primates all the time. This mouse could be a godsend for all the computer illiterate office types... just as long as I am the one that gets to jam the wires in their ears every morning, thank you.
:p
I wanna braintap to a roof mounted machinegun so I can kill damn hippie protesters!
*Ratta tat tat!*
"Take THAT counter-culture!"
What is music when you despise all sound?
It is invented. Knowledge is discovered. Technology isn't.
Oh shit! I forgot to click "Post Anonymously"...
Maybe this will lead to mouse devices for labtops that are actually usable.
[FromTheMorning]
I've know for years that monkeys could use mice, that is the reason AOL is around.
What if the monkeys had some kind of spyware where they got personal information from us and sent it to some big corporation... Oh, wait, its been done...
It would be pretty cool if they hooked that monkey up with a Segway and let it loose among the general population.
I want it...I must have these implants. I must have them for one reason and one reason only... the most important reason of all!
So I can say
"It is by will alone that I set my cursor in motion"
-Steve
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
Just wait until someone discovers that by displaying a shocking image, they can trigger the click.
Some poor schmuck triggers the wrong thing, gets trapped in the pr0n maze and ends up in the hospital with 'schizoid forced feedback syndrome'.
After the various lawsuits work their way through the system...
Someone else will come out with 'web blinders' for the safe calm web experience. No one should surf without them, or Peace of mind is a precious thing, preserving it with Web Blinders is the easiest most effective investment toward your future sanity you can make today.
Blogging because I can...
This explains why the guys at the SEC "sting" operation were wondering why the signup logs for their phoney investment websites were filled in with names like "Bubbles", "Chippy", and "Bannana Breath."
You know what?
Except now, the monkey just has to think about hitting the left-mouse button and he gets that new addiction we all have.
Poor Monkey...
There is a long way to go to get to where the monkey can use WordPerfect function keys.
Help end the use of Sigs. Tomorrow
"[The monkey] became quite reluctant to move his arm to the reach command once the cursor was introduced into the game"
So now they're training monkeys to be lazy. We've already doomed our own existance through convenience, we don't have to take the monkeys down with us
The biggest problem that still needs to be solved is the implants that pick up signals
cause the surrounding tissue to degrade and become useless after about 6 months.
Spend the time to learn how to use it, then it stops working.
However once they sort this out - sign me up.
- AndrewN
One of the wonderful things about being part of the scientific community is seeing how stories get recycled and rehashed by major news outlets. Similar work has already been done with people:
Some men spend their entire lives trying to kill themselves for having been born. --Ross MacDonald
...those who are paralyzed? How can they figure out what a person is thinking of doing if he has never (or not in a long time) performed the task? Would the brain patterns be similar enough between all humans to allow for accurate readings without mapping the brain of every person? and more importantly, has that monkey been able to shock or punch the annoying ad monkey?
What an honor, to be the first monkey to move a mouse with your mind. Not only that, but all the lady monkey's really like your new high-tech hat.
(Did anybody else wonder why there were no pictures in the article?)
SCIENCE!
Does this mean that banner ads will now start urging us to "Think Here!!!!"
Take a look at the Cyberlink You wear a headband and control the mouse by thinking. Sounds like the same thing.
force feedback :) That'd give you quite a headache.
one thought buying...
"imagine a beowulf cluster of these things"...... hopefully no one is dense enough to think I'm serious...
To a Cyberpunk world.
:)
Now, if we could only develop and legalize ICE.
I wanna fry me some skript kiddies!
Didn't any of you see Macross Plus?! The scene where the normal pilot ends up saving the thought controlled pilot because of a system shutdown, then, because of harbored feelings, 'Thinks' about altering his flight control surfaces, thereby causing the other pilot to crash. Oops! It happened... time for an investigation.
Philip Kennedy did something similar in 1998 with humans. I witnessed an operation where he implanted an electrode in a monkey over 10 years ago. He also received a 1999 Discover Technical Innovation Award for the same work. Check out: http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/HSNEWS/releases/feb99/02 2399brain.html
I don't know about you, but pulling off those ten move combos is such a pain. It would be really nice to just THINK a double backflip kick combo, especially for those of us who get our asses handed to us with disturbing regularity... Would be a different game tho.
Now software engineers will get even less exercise.
managers...why god invented purgatory
that with enough monkeys at enough terminals, that they could think up Linux?
technology that allowed a monkey to control a mouse
You mean even G.W. Bush will be able to use a computer...
Opus: the Swiss army knife of audio codec
If they could read my mind, the computer would be the last thing I would be worried about.
heh, that'll beat scaring people by moving their cursor via pc-connection! but you could really mess up your system when you sneeze.
and on a side note, i'm kinda annoyed by the term "wireless devices." i mean, i've used wireless devices my whole life: forks, shoelaces, screwdrivers . . . the philosopher in me has trouble naming things in terms of what they're not.
And then Stephen Hawking will really be able to get some work done, instead of having to use the crappy computer interface he's currently restricted to.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
It would be sooooo cool to have something like this. Now if I could just get my keyboard hooked up too.
Resistance is Futile!
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
This technology has been around a looong time:
http://www.ibva.com/
Why don't these reports people ever check sources or history?
Just lazy press release recyclers : )
the monkey typed in "Pray for Mojo."
Yes but every time I try to see it your way, I get a headache.
I'm more worried about amazon...
They'll have a heyday with "One Thought Shopping!"
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Well at first I thought that it would be hard, because you generally think of a word instead of the letters it's composed of. :)
But then again, as I'm writing this, I'm not consciously translating every word into its component letters... it just happens.
You'd just need to learn how to type on that mental keyboard
Great! Now people can masturbate with both hands at once, but still load the images.
Oh, as if the Internet doesn't already look like it's populated exclusively by websurfing monkeys. :)
Ad luna, Alicia! Ad luna!
Did the monkey's Quake performance improve?
BlackGriffen
I'm sure that after they're done with the experimentation they have to remove the monkey brain and examine it for debilitating side effects. So the monkey doesn't have to live life with a hi-tech hat after all!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Now, I want a combo neural keyboard and mouse. I'll be the faster coder on Earth, and graphic work will be a breeze! Not to mention, when it's time for a little UT break, I'll be dead accurate!
When this is sufficiently fine tuned and is possible for humans to use safely, I'm gonna have a heyday.
I want one of these puppies in my head tied to a remote control for my TV! Imagine... being able to change the channel without having to reach for the remote, keeping both hands free for beer and pizza.
has a claim to fame here with his cyberspace cowboys "jacking" into "decks" by placing so called "trodes" on their heads. Vis. Neuromancer 1983.
Bare with me for just a moment - Anyone read the Quantum Leap books? Beckett used a part of his own brain to help create Ziggy.. to help bridge the gap between sheer computation and human reasoning.. .
That and this article provoke an interesting thought - can this sort of technology be used to prematurely enable "artificial" intelligence in computers? Think about it: an advanced, organic brain being fed information from digital sources, and those sources of information reacting to the thoughts of the brain. It could enable a monkey to have very advanced visual and auditory inputs... would human-like intelligence come about? This is another form of the question chimpanzee researchers have been asking for ages: What if chimps had the physical ability for something as advanced as vocal speech?
Wendell
Does that mean I will have to be mentally active while using the computer?? :P
'Discovered' means it already existed, and they found it.
'Invented' means they made it for the first time.
I think it would be pretty big news indeed if this was a 'discovery', rather than an 'invention'.
Uh oh!
------ Curiosity killed the cat. {satisfaction brought it back | it didn't die ignorant | lack of it is killing mankind
Where do I sign up?
On second thought, forget the first question.
sic transit gloria mundi
So if they can get signals from the brain... maybe they can send them back too... That would make for some pretty realilistic force feedback for games... Or say your were playing Rouge Spear and hate waiting while your dead, now the game can just put you unconcious...
Is the electrical (brain) pattern different for each person? If it is, it would be hard to determine the pattern for someone who already lost it! So, pre-scan at birth for everyone...hmm...bad.
``In fact,'' she said, ``we found that he became quite reluctant to move his arm to the reach command once the cursor was introduced into the game. Apparently it was easier just to think about reaching.''
Apparently they just hooked the brain into as a mouse cursor instead of the previous Touch sensitive screen the money had been using -- the monkey thought and the cursor moved faster than it could move its arm pretty simple.
It does have me worried though if we're using systems like this on robotics there isn't any buffer like the spinal column to allow us to rethink an action prior to it acting out it would just happen. You think of strangling your abusive boss and the robotic arm does it before you have time to think not to. Perhaps we need to program the three laws of robotics into robotic arms before we put human minds in direct controll of them. Lest we find an army of quadriplegic terminators in our midst.
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
and you can get your aluminum foil deflector beanie here! Don't forget to run the MindGuard software too. Someone obviously put lots of time and effort into it.
Geez, you know... I'm pretty sure I ran into that monkey on IRC the other day.
"LINUX is the choice that should be made - no matter what. "
/POSITIVE/ feedback.
:)
/. for news of what AOL's latest stunt is.
::rolls eyes::
I have been moderated up for advocating Windows over Linux.
You just have to provide good
Granted three days later those very comments got moderated back down. . . .
You just have to throw buttloads of evidence at people, that and keep an open mind. Linux isn't the best for everything, hell, very FEW people here think that.
Just like we don't all think that the x86 is the best for all computing tasks for the the GeForce(number goes here) is the best video card ever made for any and all tasks.
That is just plain stupid. It is like saying DVDs are perfect for all your video needs. Sure they are nice, but VHS is still mighty useful for making quick recordings of something, especially when such recordings only need to be around temporarily.
Most people here do not object to Windows itself, they just object to how it is marketed.
After the marketing objections came about then people started to pick at other parts of Windows. Hell Linux could be picked apart in the same matter, NO OS is perfect.
"'News for nerds' - well being that nerd is a rather broad topic these days, slashdot's editors have
opened the content engine up from interesting and cutting edge articles to crap such as 'AOL vs. Trillian' a topic
that has been beaten to death by many other crappy articles about AOL blocking access to their network resources"
Considering that I do not read those 'other sites' I rely on
It matters to me, it is news to me. News, matters, works for me.
"Now...more onto the user base which constantly feels the need to post inane comments that have more to do
about inner crying because the world is not working the way they want it to. "But this is crap...why is AOL doing
this - is this legal?" Good input jack off. "
Called commiserating.
"Read the rest of this comment... [goatse.cx] "
Congrats on yet another goatse link. Like anybody gives a flying fuck. Next time post a link to something original.
Oh yah and post a troll that ain't just a rehash of other ones, m'kay? Really now, we have all seen this troll in various parts quite a few times now. I can damn nearly shit the responses to it out of my ass.
Next time don't just post a shuffeling of an old Troll. If your going to do something, do it right damnit. . . .
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
Daniella is a graduate student in Richard Andersen's lab at CalTech. I don't know why the article came out now, given that the Society for Neuroscience convention was back in November.
What they are doing is indeed very cool, and yes they are not the only ones doing it (I know of about 5 academic groups with similar programs, including one at MIT which allows a monkey to control a robotic arm over the internet. One reason some studies use EEG (scalp) electrodes instead of implanted electrodes is that there are obvious restrictions on what you are allowed to do to a human. For the record, it is common to use some forms of invasive techniques on severly epileptic patients.
A couple years ago there was a company that sold what amounted to a thimble with a ps2 connection. You put the thimble on and it read your alpha and beta waves and after a couple hours calibration allowed you to flawlessly control the mouse mearly by thinking. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called but damn did I want one to play WarCraft II with (not that I needed any more of an advantage mind you). Unfortunately it cost about $250 at the time and I wasn't old enough to be working to afford such a toy. Anyway, controlling a mouse cursor by thought isn't anything new, just the ways in which we do it.
Now its just a matter of time before i get my data jack a la Shadowrun.
- WeaselGod
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet turbines
Shit, just find a preppy motherfucking spoiled rich girl and put her in a shopping mall
and there you have "One Thought Shopping"
Alright...
Now I can play FPS against my dog... and feel like I have actually kicked ass...
I just hope HE doesnt beat me!
Mabidex
In law nothing is certain, but the expense. - S. Butler
...a mouse control a monkey. Or better yet, a yorky control a rhino...no, wait...how about a pigeon controlling a sea slug? Or an ant controlling a bison? Butterfly controlling a big-mouthed bass? Praying mantis controlling a vulture? Housecat and gorilla? Hamster and woodpecker? Earthworm and orca?
After having my ass kicked multiple times on Battle.net by Koreans, soon rhesus monkeys will be kicking my ass, too. I wonder how "For great justice!" sounds in monkey, anyway?
"C" is for cookie, that's good enough for me.
I can see the new T-Shirt from ThinkGeek.com now, replace the old:
Go away or I will replace you with a very small shell script.
will now read:
Go away of I will replace you with a small monkey with a telepathic mouse.
Get yours now before their all gone!!!!!
----
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Ben Franklin
I am amazed none of you youngsters recalled this story:
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/arcade/monkey.htm
I thought Steve Case had implemented a monkey-computer interface years ago.
please search Peter Fromherz
Check out the no wires version ..
t ch .html
http://www.phys.uts.edu.au/research/ht-mind-swi
...as opposed to low-tech MRI, in which I hold a magnet to my head and Gladys runs around me very fast, snapping Polaroids.
...this could be the end for everyone's favorite game (http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/reviews/0,10 867,2699724,00.html).
-- A sig a day keeps the IT guys away
Now we can all be Riggers. Just hop into your car and think about turning it on. Vroom baby!
And my bumper sticker will say, "Don't even think about getting in my lane!"
To Steve Jackson Games: Make backups now because they'll be coming again as soon as they hear about this.
Drop me a line at:
Key ID: 0x54D1D809
"Okay, I just finished that paper. Now I've got to be real careful with it. Just don't think about that rm * command. Don't even think about it. You've worked really hard on this thing, so if you think rm * then all your work is gone."
"Dammit."
Gez this technology is a little dated.. I remember back in high school having discussions in Pshycology-AP (1997) about this activity with paralized humans. They simply cut into the brain, grew the ends of a neron into a short tube with an electrode at the end. The user then had to be taught to try to move the pointer.
They didnt get too much out of it. Simply got movement. No real control was achived as of that time.
I guess this is newsworthy as it is now a chimp controling the mouse pointer. I wonder when Microsoft is going to hire the chimp to redesign their next OS user interface, call it Windows CHIMP. DRACO-
Consider yourself blessed if you are sneezed on by a dragon and only get wet, it could have been a fireball.
Seriously, how is this quote not already on /. marked at +5 Funny?
I really hate Dan Patrick.
Now people with Lou Gehrig's Disease may also be in danger of catching "CmdrTaco's Disease".
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
I should patent "think and click" before amazon does it.
This research has already been applied in humans by Dr. Phil Kennedy at Georgia Tech, who has been developing the work for years...
Christopher Altman
Graduate Researcher in Artificial Intelligence
http://www.umsl.edu/~altmanc/
Quantum computing / Artificial intelligence: http://www.umsl.edu/~altmanc/news.html
The monkeys in my department will welcome this! Saves all the effort expended pointlessly bashing the keyboard, now they can pointlessly mouse around without effort!
Punch the human and win 20 bananas...
Buy more AOL stock!