Slashdot Mirror
Non-Invasive Computer Control Through Brainwaves
mikael writes "An article on the BBC website is reporting that U.S. scientists have managed to develop a 'thinking cap' which allows a computer to receive commands from the electrical activity of a person's brain alone. Comprised of 64 electrodes, this cap allowed two users to control a cursor through pure thought alone, rather than through eye movements or other physical gestures." Unlike some previous efforts, this one doesn't require anything to be implanted in your brain.
could this be the first actual useful tinfoil hat?
It is not outside the realm of possibility, however, as Carl Sagan was fond of saying "Extrodinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Those who claim to have extra sensory perception (ESP) have consistently failed to substatiate those claims when scrutinized with truly scientific methods.
It's a hell of a lot more difficult to believe.
Putting electrodes right next to the brain and using computational power to detect the VERY faint electrical signals within the brain is worlds and worlds apart from someone being able to pick up these electrical signals from the span of -- let's say two feet away to be fair -- THROUGH THE AIR and having it penetrate their skull, and then being able to interpret these electrical signals into meaningful thoughts. Keep in mind that since every mind is different, the electrical signals in one brain that signify a certain thought -- let's say something simple such as "I like cheese." can be fairly different from one person to the next because of the way the synapses are linked and pulse their electrochemical signals to make up said thought. I consider this to be an even greater obstacle than the electrical signals from the brain going through the air. The electrical signals to move a cursor are so much simpler than the simplest of thoughts (I like cheese).
Getting electrical signals to OR from the brain through an intact skull is going to be a lossy process. In the case of getting signals out, this is apparently manageable. But as for getting signals IN, it's not going to work -- this way at least. This doesn't rule out some much more precise (and much more advanced) tech in the future, but this isn't going to work for making zombies.
Besides, is drilling a hole in the head of your zombie really THAT bad?
Mal-2
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Um, no. Part of the scientific method is to perform experiments in which measurable results are observed in the real world in a repeatable fashion.
Why these results occur is often explained by a theory, which apparently is what you refer to above. However, why ESP works would be a strictly secondary issue alongside it's actual existence, if observed. Fairly simple experiments should be able to demonstrate telepathy if it exists - see the famous Duke University experiments for example.
I hope that cleared things up a bit for you.
Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
Score: -1 100% Flamebait
Actually, the firing of individual neuron is not nearly as interesting as the pattern in which large groups fire. If you know the transform equation, you can derive what the whole thing is doing by sampling from a few key points.
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
We don't know what conciousness is made of. Thus we do not know its true limitations. And that's not voodoo talking. That's the scientific community.
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming