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Brain-Implanted Chips Allow Control of Technology
Nilchii writes "The Guardian has an article about implanting electrodes in the brain, allowing paralyzed people to control various software-integrated devices, such as the cursor on a computer and the channel and volume of his television. From the article: 'The experiment took place a few months ago as part of a broader trial into what are known in the business as brain-computer interfaces. Although it is early days, aficionados of the technology see a world where brain implants return ability to those with disability, allowing them to control all manner of devices by thought alone.'" The BBC has coverage of this as well, and we've mentioned this research before.
This may sound like a joke, but I'm concerned about the time when the chip is used to control you.
Why not use it when you're not paralyzed? I think it is _very_ handy for turning the coffee machine on when you're in bed.. :-D
I have a dream...
or will this turn on about anything at the press of a finger? seems scary
Tha-tha-tha-tha-that's all folks!
people that don't need this will get it and we'll all get a whole lot lazier... reading slahdot without lifting a finger? sounds good to me!
ART on dA
Controlling the brain is actually pretty difficult. From experiment they have done, they found the human brain does not take well to control. Frequently, tests subjects would have seizures under such conditions. Even just recording a subject's brain waves and playing them back would induce serious seizures.
Sorry I don't have any links on this, I saw it on Discovery channel a few years ago.
Cyborgs and, ultimetly, robots are the future of humanity.
Sure, these "features" (brain controlled computing) will initially be for the disabled, but how long before it becomes acceptable in the general populace to get these modifactions? People will begin seeing them as everyday occurances, and then we will know we've reached the next level.
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The thalamus relays all our sensory information (except for smell). It is also involved in mediating interactions between different areas of the cortex. If we can get input/output devices into the thalamus, you might well have The Matrix.
Transcend Humanity. Please.
Your finger already controls your thoughts. Just touching the tip of it starts off a flurry of activity in your parietal lobes.
In fact, controlling robotic limbs will be much easier once the communication goes both ways. Most of what you think your brain "knows" about your body was learned entirely from peripheral nervous system feedback.
bytesmythe
Hypocrisy is the resin that holds the plywood of society together.
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I'm not handicapped in any way but I want the procedure done immediately!
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Am I the only one that is seriously waiting for the socket in the back of my head so I can learn all sorts of things without any effort? I don't think I'd want the control chips implanted... imagine yourself watching TV, all settled in, and just as the shower scene starts, you blink and suddenly you're watching the iron chef? or your garage door starts opening and closing repeatedly? Got only knows what evil would happen if you got a 'head cold'... sneezing is bad enough, but when you sneeze and the dishwasher starts a rinse cycle, that's just out of hand. ?
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Step 1) Put chips in handicapped people
"It's okay, they're handicapped. It's all we can do for them."
Step 2) Put chips in normal people to monitor health hazards
"It's important that we know if granny is in trouble."
Step 3) Diseases and illnesses like SARS can be stopped in their tracks with these chips
"We have to use these chips to protect ourselves. Everyone else is doing it and they are fine."
Step 4) We can now use these to detect terrorists by watching for dangerous thought formations.
"It's the only way we can stop them. It must be done."
Step 5) The line between terrorist and criminal is blurred and it's used to stop criminals.
"We might as well do it with criminals since we are already doing it with terrorists."
Step 6) These thought-forms can be prevented entirely.
"If terrorist and criminal thoughts are stopped from the git-go, it will be a utopia. The end of crime forever!"
Step 7) All unwanted thoughts are filtered out
"You have to pay a price for freedom. I am okay with slavery. We need it to be safe. What would you like me to do today?"
See a problem here?!?
Wired Story
Wired seemed to stress the opinion of other scientists in the same field, that this research was 'premature' and disaster could bring public outrage and set back (American) research a good ten years.
The thing is, Matt Nagle was a willing volunteer; he's an adult who can comprehend the risks involved in this procedure, and if he's injured, one can't say that it's unexpected. If this niche industry is destroyed when somebody is hurt and this whole chance for mobility gets tossed back like U.S. stem cell research has been, I hope they can find other places to continue this technology -- and that the U.S. government doesn't hold them back.
Matt and the other four volunteers are pioneers, so to say; they want to help further this research and get back some, if not all, of the mobility they had.
Hats off to 'em.
One step at a time...the capabilities of the front-end need to be explored first. We know a consistent signal can be gotten for months, but how stable is it over time? How do you effectively couple it as an external control system?
With respect to having it control prosthetics, the robot arm is the easy part. The hard part is feedback. This is already well-known from prosthetic arms controlled with other signals. The arm input signal isn't so hard, but humans lose a lot of capability without feedback, and prostheses use really crude strategies in order to utilize normal muscle feedback instead of using much better couplings to robot arms.
There's a lot of work to be done, but there are several groups of very skilled people moving fast...it'll get a lot better over the next 10 years.