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Going Cyberpunk
goingincirclez writes "Cnet has an article about the development of a "Neuro-chip". This can be implanted in the brain and is currently being researched for medical uses. The article makes a brief mention the composition of pictures on a computer based on signlas receieved from the brain. Couple this development with the information in this Wired article from last October, and I can't help but wonder how far we are from literally being able to record dreams and thoughts?" On a similar note there are stories about a temperature-sensing implantable microchip and a scientist who claims he can tell whether you've committed a crime.
"98.6! Take him away, boys, he's guilty of somethin'!"
Imagine that all you would have to do is hook a little matrix type needle in your head and you could compete based on pure reflexes and just how fast your brain can work, and not on a malfunctioning optical mouse.
Geez, when I think of it like that, there could be all sorts of implications for something like this from being a lie detector to measureing IQ.
its that only shaved psychic genetic freaks that float in a comatose state in a vat underground can tell me who has committed a crime.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
If (and I'm stressing that if) this becomes "widely accepted", couldn't one simply refuse to allow oneself to be tested, as it would really just be another form of self incrimination, which we are protected from by the 5th Amendment? After all, each of these little "brain spikes" would be like the defendant muttering "I did it" each time he was shown a card with evidence on it.
So reading one's mind is still _far_ in the future. That said, it's still a very cool technology which will allow for more information on how the brain works, and hopefully some serious medical advances.
---
"Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong." --Dennis Miller
The Orgasmatron. This, and a replacement for addictive drugs, are the most important functions of cybernetics. And fortunately, they are pretty easy to implement, as opposed to mind transfers or the like.
You know, I'm glad there are scientists out there who can tell whether I've committed a crime. Because with all these bizarre and incomprehensible laws out there, I sure as heck don't know when I have. Perhaps if I get one of these chip things it will tell me when my code touches a patented technology or happens to break some loser's copy-protection technology from the mid-80s.
--G
With laws like the U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. act and the DMCA, hasn't pretty much everyone broken the law now? It hardly takes a scientists to tell whether someone's a criminal these days. Hell, it's been true for decades that the tax code is so fiendishly complex that no one can understand it, let alone comply with it fully. And if all else fails, there's always the speed limit laws...
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
And as we all know, everything you can think of will be done! What can YOU think of?
*shudder*
If there is one lesson we can learn from history, it is that we dont learn from history ~ dont know whose quote
Now what REALLY matters is the interface. It's not much good to have a computer wired to your cortex is all you can do is type on your brain's command line.
What will make this take off is a thought-processor. An interface device that allows the computer to read your mind. The real challange will be in signal filtering; I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I think about a lot of random crap during the day. How to distinguish legitimate commands from my daydreaming about travel or movies or p0rn?
Whoever invents this will make Einstein look like a small time celebrity.
Who in their right mind would get a chip implanted in their body? With technology advancing as fast as it does, you would be outdated in a couple of years! A better Idea would be a port that can be easily accessed that can support future upgrades without surgery.
Sound waves should be free!
Nope.
- -
Are you an SF Fan? Are you a Tru-Fan?
can't help but wonder how far we are from literally being able to record dreams and thoughts?
If you read material on brain research, you'll quickly come to the realize that we have no idea at all how the brain works. The theories are widely varying and contradictory. The chip in this story is a hack, like shocking a dead frog and watching its muscles twitch. You can do it without any kind of clue, but going from there to a full understanding of things is a gargantuan leap.
The prohibitive cost of a sub-cranial interface could always be reconciled by having banner popups in your field of vision.
In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane. -Oscar Wilde
Rule 1: Never give your brain-node's IP to Slashdot!!!
Rule 2: See Rule 1
--CypherDragon
Really let's think about it. If we can record our dreams and thoughts, especially for those of us that do our best writing in our head and can never seem to get it on paper, it could be a useful tool. What about those that are deaf and blind? A way that would have the ability to reconnect the broken links. The possiblities are endless. It's not about creating super human machines; or making big brother. It's taking science and and medicine a step further. A way to help build new and better interpersonal commuinications for those that have trouble with this.
The problem here is that most of humanity still needs to have a BRAIN implanted before they can start thinking about brain enhancing chips.
--- Ban humanity.
And to answer the unspoken question: Can FPGA's be used in your brain? I say this: Get Real. Current FPGA technology has no possible application. Maybe in 5 or 10 years, when we have conquered the leakage problem, and have developed fuel cells that run on glucose. But I don't see it, since an ASIC dedicated to brain interface functions will be a far superior solution. FPGA's may evolve into a future computing fabric, so they may have useful applications in external hardware, but it will be a very distant descendent of FPGA's that are finally used for in-body implants.
Brain fingerprinting works by measuring and analyzing split-second spikes in electrical activity in the brain when it responds to something it recognizes. ...if a suspected murderer was shown a detail of the crime scene that only he would know, his brain would involuntarily register that knowledge. ... A person who had never seen that crime scene would show no reaction.
So the detail is blood in a clawfoot tub. Maybe you have a clawfoot tub? Maybe you watched a dozen different movies with blood/tub scenes. Maybe you have the same exact Teledyne Waterpic that the murder victim has hanging in his shower. You could recognize anything for any number of reasons. Not only that, but your memory changes over time. After 23 years that guy could have been imagining innocence scenarios for so long it looked to the scanner like he was innocent.
Sorry, I don't buy it at all.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
Both of the articles discuss observing only electrical activity. While useful, it is analogous to an EKG, just a graph of currents that can tell us the heart rate yet gives us little functional info beyond that. It can't tell you what the blood pressure is, or what the quality or quantity of the blood components is. The devices described are only a little more invasive than a device already in use to diagnose certain brain abnormalities: the electroencephalograph (EEG). It may diagnose epilepsy and sometimes causes of dementia, can suggest the occasional tumor and can tell us a person is brain dead. That's about it. It certainly doesn't tell the world what you're thinking, your sexual preference, or your illicit file-sharing habits.
The article on brain fingerprinting makes clear (at least to me) that the machine is of the same concept as a lie-detector test, though perhaps more advanced and reliable. IMHO, the test is not self-incriminating any more than that damning fingerprint you accidentally left at the crime scene.