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Microsoft Wants To Read Your Brain
Simon Night writes "Microsoft has entered the realm of brain machine interfaces, attempting to patent a method of classifying brain states from EEG input. 'Human beings are often poor reporters of their own actions,' the patent application notes, so reading directly from your brain is a preferred option."
I mean, no ones gonna read your eyes!
I've spent a fair amount of time looking at this problem (as have others with certain agencies who have invested not insignificant amounts of money) and I can tell you that this is pretty much up in the night kinda speculation. Technical issues of obtaining clean EEG signals in a convenient manner aside, the origins of techniques like this to classify comes from the epilepsy literature, where folks attempt to classify interictal seizure spikes, but also from the sleep and awareness literature (both of which have been reasonably successful, yet are still lacking optimal tools). Granted, there are rather dramatic global state changes that occur with different states of consciousness, but this application focuses principally on the awake EEG. Specifically they quote the P300 signal which the FBI and CIA are using (trying to use) for lie detection, but the problem here is that the P300 is only an evoked potential that simply tells you whether or not someone recognizes an input (audio, visual, tactile etc...). So all questions or inputs into the system have to be crafted to understand that one is looking for an evoked potential with no necessary context in place to explain that evoked potential.
So, this is not mind reading per se nor is it a means to break cognitive processing into temporal windows to determine intent in any of those potential epochs. At its very basic fundamentals this is simply a rehash of signal detection theory doing simple Fourier analysis to "classify" brain waves. But the thing here is that there is no science behind using these signals to interpret what one is thinking even with the invocation of Bayesian networks. There are a number of other more promising methods for classifying data that have been in the literature and commonly used by a number of other disciplines that I am surprised have not made it into the EEG literature yet.
In short.... in my assessment, this is a patent proposal without much in the way of novelty or benefit to the problem at hand.
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I'd really like to see Microsoft's implementation of this patent.
. . . run down the back of my spine.
Part of the hardcore faithful who believed in Apple long before it was cool again to do so
Welcome that. They are welcome to read my mind, just so they will know HOW MUCH VISTA SUCKS ASS.
At least at time of writting :) Reading brains? Do they really need that to tell that their GUI just pissed you off. Wouldn't throwing a "Windows.Keyboard.Bashed" event work just as well?
...where the Bill-Gates-as-Borg icon truly applies.
"'Human beings are often poor reporters of their own actions,' the patent application notes, so reading directly from your brain is a preferred option." Translated: Humans are often trying to keep personal secrets from us, so stealing it all directly from your brain is a preferred option.
Report this /fs:fat32 /v:nocrap
format c:
Seriously the only thing that happens when Microsoft products try to guess what you are thinking is annoyance.
Seagoon: Shut up Eccles!
Eccles: Shut up Eccles!
"It looks like you're writing a letter. Would you like help?"
Can you imagine trying to update the firmware? (With Microsoft's update) Update fails... 'User is now a mad.. oohhh so madddd......' RAWRRRRR HULK SMASH !
Guns are for wimps... Use a crossbow.. this way you can pin them to their chair when you go postal.
As soon as they read my mind to find out exactly what I think about their company.
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
I'm all for direct my brain/Microsoft linkage. If installed on my work computer it could drastically reduce the delay between using Microsoft products and relaying the resulting anger/discomfort to Microsoft... Which will then continue to be ignored. Lovely.
TODO - Insert Creative/Witty Signature
I didn't see any "references" in the application. There is numerous patents relating to EEG technology. I work with Quantitative EEG technology as part of my day job. There is definitely prior art for "de-artifacting" EEG data.
In Soviet Russia ^H^H^H America, The bank finances YOU!
Knew this seemed familiar This is a whole can of worms I don't want Microsoft in. As we've all pointed out, that we don't want ANYONE in. As soon as someone finds a generally good idea(tm) someone has to come around and make it worse...
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
I really question if Microsoft would like to know what I REALLY think about them... :-)
Microsoft always knows better than the user! Hence installing patches which Microsoft knows are important but the user might have decided not to install, or telling you to reboot when you don't need to, or throttling your net connection when you play an mp3, making paperclips compulsory because those pesky users might want to turn off this useful feature, disabling software which the stupid user installed because windows knows it's a pirate copy, etc etc ;-)
:-)
Prediction: Microsoft patent to tell them what the W3C MEANS rather than what they actually WROTE in the standards, so MS can do "the right thing" (as opposed to the standard thing) there too
Nick Waterman, Sr Tech Director, #include <stddisclaimer>
Time to put on that tin foil hat! Who is laughing now!?
I mean, any attempt at humor just detracts from the unintentional comedy laid at our feet.
-John Mark
Hyperic Community Manager
When I kick my windows PC?
Can you F'n hear me now, Billy Boy?
Does this bring a new meaning to the BSoD or what?
O.O
reminds me of this delightful comic courtesy of Achewood.
-WFL"Better to be vulgar than non-existent" -Bev Henson
... though probably more down to earth.
Berlin Brain-Computer Interface
Quote: "For several years, research groups in Europe and the USA have been working on systems which allow for a direct dialog between man and machine. To this end, a "Brain Computer Interface" (BCI) has been developed. Cerebral electric activity is recorded via the electroencephalogram (EEG): electrodes, attached to the scalp, measure the electric signals of the brain. These signals are amplified and transmitted to the computer, which transforms them into device control commands. The crucial requirement for the successful functioning of the BCI is that the electric activity on the scalp surface already reflects motor intentions, i.e., the neural correlate of preparation for hand or foot movements. The BCI detects the motor-related EEG changes and uses this information, for example, to perform a choice between two alternatives: the detection of the preparation to move the left hand leads to the choice of the first, whereas the right hand intention would lead to the second alternative. By this means it is possible to operate devices which are connected to the computer; such a communication can even be realised via the internet."
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
Ass-IMMOlated.
Don't know about YOU, but I don't want mshaft plugged into MY ass.
Let's see them try it on their EMPLOYEES first. Not even on criminals, but on THEIR employees, then politicians...
Instead of wasting money on this, maybe we could use more programs for endangered/at-risk youth, young adults, and the homeless who WANT to work, go to school or be sheltered.
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
But then again, perhaps they'll finally figure out why I'm so frustrated with Windows. Nah, that'll never happen.
as the fundamental technology, you have nothing to fear.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
*Tink tink tink!*
GET OUT OF MY HEAD YOU ROTTEN PAPER CLIP!
*Tink tink tink!*
ARGHH!!! It's in my head! Aarrggghhh!
*Tink tink tink!*
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
Human beings are often poor reporters of their own actions
I find it very interesting that this reflects Microsoft's thinking. "You say no to this update, when you really mean yes", "You don't know what's best for you", "You don't need that feature, trust us".
What is creepier is that this patent application will grant Microsoft the exclusive right to read your brain... at least in the way the patent describes.
Stocks in tin foil producing companies soar! I think if users use this machine while doing usability testing with Vista the machine will explode, so the problem will take care of itself.
Microsoft is not the first player in this market. Two Californian companies have already started producing devices that could be used to produce mind-controlled computer games. The technology has existed for some time and has been used to treat/assist people with severe disabilities.
Phoenix, Boston, Little Rock, see a pattern?
Just imagine what happens if Clippy tries to cut and paste your thoughts into the letter.
Before:
"Dear Cindy: I'm afraid this won't work, our differences are too much"
After:
"Dear B**ch: Don't even dream about it, I found a girl who really knows how to- F***! How the heck do I turn this off! Don't"
e-mail sent.
oh my... with microsoft messing with brains the BSOD term get a whole new meaning
and I can tell you that this is pretty much up in the night kinda speculation.
Well, so is an operating system and applications that don't crash, and intuitive user interfaces, and that doesn't stop companies from claiming success in those domains either.
Holy cow, I was just joking around, honest! Now I'm gonna have IP lawyers knocking down my door. And's it's not like I'm going to be able to lie to get myself out of this one 'cus, like, they'd know.
We told you, but you just called us paranoiacs and laughed at our tinfoil hats! This fall, the fashion accessory is foil!
--
Given enough personal experience, all stereotypes are shallow.
You mean they don't?
The days of the digital watch are numbered.
Hey boss have a look at this, its a sample from the brain readings of our users. Its got averaged responses relating to our products... Yeah, what does the chart mean? They hate us. Really bad. I mean most of them want us to die. Oh well, business as usual. ...
You look at what scientists are researching - robots to replace people, computers that can think like people, scanners to read our minds.... I mean, for what benefit? Corporate compliance? Government security? These things are being built solely for the sake of building them, and, the frankenstein world that will emerge from them makes the Dark Ages sound pretty and distant goddamned good. Let's see, burn the witch, or have my mind read to get a job. Sorry witch, but you're toast!
This is my sig.
So what happens, you think of Linux, piracy, or boobies and you get a shock through the Windows Genuine Advantage Testicle Electrodes, aka MS Testitrodes(tm)?
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
When I first saw the subject line, I could've sworn it read "Microsoft wants to Eat Your Brain" .
Like, as in zombies.... sorry, it's been a long Monday.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
Animation State and reaction. Animations.
Human beings are often poor reporters of their own actions.
What this really means:
"Microsoft knows what you need better than you do."
So, uh, the Thought Police are coming! The Thought Police are coming!
No, I wasn't thinking that Microsoft should die in a fire! PLEASE! NOT ROOM 101! PLEASE! I'LL RAT OUT MY KID! I'LL TATTLE ON MY WIFE! PLEASE! I DIDN'T MEAN IT!
*ahem*
Reading nineteen eighty-four, and it seemed pretty Big Brother-ish of Microsoft, is all.
When they combine this with Windows Genuine Advantage!
"This copy of Windows will expire in 10 days unless you register your brain with Microsoft"
Table-ized A.I.
People who have brains don't use Microsoft software.
"You are thinking about LINUX. Cancel or allow?"
"You are thinking about switching to MAC. Cancel or allow?"
"You are thinking about Ballmer and him dancing across a stage yelling developers and throwing chairs. Cancel or allow?"
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
Well, one positive outcome would be if they use it in testing of new products.
Allow this action? Yes
Allow this action? Yes
Allow this action? Yes
Technician: Sir, the test-subject's EEG is spiking Allow this action? Grrr, yes
Allow this action? Yes, damnit!
Technician: He's red-lining sir! Cerebral reading critical
Manager: Wow, so customer's really aren't happy with that feature. OK, scrap it and throw in some more eye-candy and perhaps a fluffy kitten or two
Technician: Yes, sir!
How has google not patented this? Sounds like Microsoft trying to out-google google.
We willna be fooled again!
Microsoft is this world Umbrella corporation. It is a extinction for our species. The clue, why do they want to mess with peoples brain to start with.
Technology has come a long way. I remember when they started piloting the rectal scanners. I'm a tall guy, but the readers were at about eye level and they never seemed to get an accurate scan. I hear they have made considerable progress though...
You seem to be trying to read someone's brain; do you want Windows to assist you?
For example, you harbor thoughts of harm towards someone. You know in your own mind you would never do it. Does the computer know that. Would it report it? If so to whom. Could you incrimate yourself by your thoughts?
Suppose your a terrorist sympathiser, having done no bad stuff yourself, just understanding why they did it, you bet your ass the FBI would be knocking.
Ok this isn't exactly what we are saying, but this is the thin end of the wedge. Feature creap. You are telling me MS will not slip in a reporting feature in exchange for an easy ride from the DOJ?
http://www.writeitfor.us - Writing IT for the IT generation.
Quick! Lets all think "Format C:"! See how long they want to read our minds with that. :-)
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
This puts a whole new light on the WGA program...
A Microsoft product plugged right into the brain. Now the term Blue Screen of Death can be taken literally.
"We're not unreasonable. Nobody wants to read your eyes."
My Photography - http://ian-x.com
The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
I'm betting a good portion of the population has several 'people' running through their head. Good luck getting Bob's signal input, when John, Cindy and Steve are all fighting over who had the remote last and whether that last OREO cookie is theirs.
NEVERMIND the licensing they'd try to implement with this.
Clippy: 'It looks like another user has joined in. Would you like to log out, or continue working and tell them to go away.'
"... record high stock prices for the Reynolds aluminum foil company.
And in other news, Microsoft reports that their new software has identified a 400% increase in their users wanting steak, enjoying "walkies" and thinking about leg-humping."
---
"I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh
Also, it looks like this story about Microsoft has been out since June.
What ever happened to innovation, and sticking to a core business model? What is Microsoft thinking, they're not a hardware company. So there advanced technologies R&D lab thinks up something they can throw a patent application up for. They won't execute on it. They'll just litigate on it if someone does actually try to deliver something to the market.
Oh wait... I guess this is Microsoft's core business model, never mind my bad.
"After thousands of tries, Microsoft was unable to utilize their brain-pattern recognition system under Vista. Every time a test subject's brain came up with 'Vista sucks', network utilization would drop to less than 3%, the system would become unresponsive, and eventually a UAC window would pop up requesting whether or not the user really meant that? The user's brain would reply 'yes' and the process would start over again in an infinite loop... Turning off UAC prior to running the experiment would crash the application, causing the contents of the user's brain to be dumped in an error report sent to the RIAA."
Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
there, saved you the investment.
where do I want to go today? www.apple.com/switch
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
to allow Microsoft to make you want what they can deliver. Finally some people will actually want their products!
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
... in his book Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, in which everyone has has neural hooks to the Internet, and everyone walks around with HUDdies (heads up displays) revealing their whuffie (think /. Karma points.) The only difference with Cory's world: he assumed that Free Open Source Software was everywhere, so there were no issues with patents.
/. about the possibility of interacting with computers with our minds.
/., according to Wikikpedia article. So thank you, Cmdr Taco!
Unfortunately for us all, we are not that far away from Cory Doctorow's vision, because HUDdies are already in wide-spread use, for example, in aviation, according to this Wikipedia article. So we won't be able to rely on the fact that Microsoft's patent clocks out before this technology might actually be relevant. We have all seen stories here on
Coincidentally, Cory's idea of whuffie was influenced, in part, by reading
Take it to the next obvious level.
...
With their sensor, they can decide when you need a jolt, either good/bad.
With Microsoft Biological Advantage, you now know why you suddenly feel like
OW!!! WHAT THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS WAS THAT?
I mean, Now you can Enjoy Microsoft Every Day.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
You are right, and in fact if the study about planting false memories about a Disneyland visit isn't a classic yet, it will be.
For those who don't know this one, the researchers exposed test subjects to an ad about Disneyland describing warm fuzzy childhood memories about being hugged by the Bugs Bunny character (well, someone dressed in the costume). Later, they found that as many as 1 in 3 people ended up remembering the event as actually happening to them, rather than just something they read in the ad.
A report on the study is here.
(Btw, for those of you who want to ask, "What if it just so happens that the test subject really had been hugged by Bugs Bunny at Disneyland before?", please, go ahead, ask. I'm sure there's more than one Slashdotter who would love to pounce on you for asking.)
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]
no way in hell.
With all the Ideas they steal, id rather not help them be mine, i don't welcome M$ as my overlord.
-Noc
...when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers!
I drank what? -- Socrates
Humans are often trying to keep personal secrets from us, so stealing it all directly from your brain is a preferred option.
Just wait till the RIAA hear about this...
I think most of you are missing the point - I got the impression from the article that this is only being done in the context of usability studies so that Microsoft's interface designers can improve the quality of their feedback. Traditionally in usability studies users are asked to "think out loud", which gives good data as long as the users remember to talk/aren't distracted by having to talk. I guess Microsoft is developing this as an alternative, hoping it will give them more accurate data as to what the user is trying to do and how they respond to the interface. So no, no one's going to read your mind unless you're in Microsoft's usability lab and sign a release form!!
It's bad enough when the grammar nazis kick in, now we got the thought police, fixing other peoples comments.
Is there some subtle meaning I'm missing in the fixed sentence? I think it would be obvious that they are talking about 'their' users.
----------
Reminds me of this conversation...
Q: How do ya get to Pismo Beach?
A: From here?
R: No from somewhere else, ya moron!
One must keep into account that :
- EEG only records surface activity (you only "see" what's visible on the "outside". Deep structures that also play important roles in the way the brain works, mostly by working as filters and first step analysis are not visible on the EEG)
- No matter how much different tracks you analyse, what you read is an overall tendency (you only "see" blurred image. You can get very high resolution, but it's still a high resolution of a blurred out-of-focus image).
The only advantage of EEG is its speed : you can measure those variations in the millisecond range.
There are stuff for witch EEG is a good tool : epilepsy is an example (in epilepsies, instead of having a lot of tiny different activities which just read as noise because of the blurred/surface characteristic, suddenly the whole or at least a significant part of the brain start to fire up signals in a synchronous manner, those "electrical signal spasms" add up nicely and their net result can be seen on the EEG).
But EEG is completely useless because it lacks the fine resolution (it only measures a global effect) that other techniques like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provide.
(And fMRI is far from perfect too : it measures the increased blood flow of brain regions that are working and are needing oxygen. It's much more precise than EEG but its much slower. At best you have a temporal resolution around several seconds)
The gold standard would be inserting electrodes directly into the brain but that's completely out of question for the purpose that Microsoft want (it can be used in some complex neurosurgery to help predict the potential function loss in case of tumor removal)
So EEG is useless for mood prediction.
They only problem I see with this patent, is Microsoft coming after some obscure small research group that try to develop a tool to assist clinician in diagnosis and Microsoft attacking them on ground of infringing a technology that automatically reads and interprets EEGs (for example to try to push contracts for machines with windows licenses for potential buyers of the technology). i.e.: once again restricting development.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
"What would you like to think today?"
Read: "This is what you will think today."~~~hsl~~~
the blue screen of death.
Ummmm, No. No, they can't have my brain.
You seem to be recalling "If I could Turn Back Time" by Cher.
Your theft of this music has been reported to the RIAA, and you have been registered as a thought-criminal.
The RIAA settlement will be automatically drafted from you account.
You also seem to have hummed a few bars, this is a crime against humanity. Homeland security will be by shortly to apprehend you on the charge of tuher-rism.
To boldly use to and too two times and get it right too! They're not gonna believe their eyes when they see it there!
This gives a whole new meaning to the term 'FAT head'.
Have gnu, will travel.
They won't have to work that hard to read mine. It'll be the one going "Linux Rocks, Microsoft Sucks, Linux Rocks, Microsoft Sucks........"
Slashdot wants to lick your butthole to get you to use Linux. Why is this such an outrageously pro-Linux site? The slogan isn't "Stuff for LINUX nerds that matters"...
Then again, maybe it helps stop some virgins from plotting to blow up the planet with anime spacecraft...
Pathetic, guys, really.
Do not downmod posts "overrated" simply because you disagree with them.
Nothing to read here, move along....
If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
General Failure Reading your Brain bort etry ail
You never catch me alive
I couldn't stop laughing when reading that post, and my finger slipped when I was about to moderate this post 'funny'. I really hope the new moderating system being tested allow me to cancel my action.
I'm sick of omnipresent Microsoft crap-ware that is designed with the thinking that the program knows what the user wants. The last time I used Microsoft Word, I spent 15 minutes trying to stop it from automatically capitalizing the single letter "i". Excel keeps randomly turning formulas into hyperlinks, and if I create a macro that refers to another macro and specifically reference the file that contains said macro, Excel feels the need to drop that reference and search for another one in the file system, friggin' bizarre. Of course Windows itself has to launch every so-called "service" running automatically by default and insists on mapping my harddrive to E:, which brings about more problems later on. Need I add to complaints about the goddamned paperclip, the "desktop cleanup wizard"... Microsoft may be one of the most successful software companies ever, but it doesn't deserve to be.
... to millions of brains, for many years.
Only now, they want read privileges to them as well.
.... We have a patent on that thought. $20 has been deducted from your Microsoft Wallet.
you have to think in OOXML.
Virtually serving coffee
Surely, they cannot expect to get the patent approved. Classifying brain waves to control computer games has been used for some time now as a treatment method in medicine. Should be easy to scan through medical publications to find that their patent lacks originality and throw it out. They should be FINED for wasting patent office time! But then again, we're dealing with the US Patent office... :(
It will probably be approved. Like the other Microsoft patents...
And for the first time, /.'s Borg Gates pictogram really makes sense ...
... a short story.
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
I can't wait for the stealth updates to be downloaded into my brain...
Resistance is futile...
You will be assimilated in to the collective
It uninstalls itself, and throws Mac OS on
Sorry - we know you have pirated copy of MS Office - you know it and we know you know ...
I think it would be fun to use something like this on Polititians while they are in session writing laws. I wonder what they are really thinking about? How many audio streams of Polititians thoughts can we fit down a single cable connection?
meridian at tha.net
So does this mean I will be crashing my car if I use this technology because my brain decides to randomly reboot while on the road?