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Japanese Scientists Claim To Reconstruct Images From Brain Data

Posted by timothy on from the shutter-to-think dept.

In a world first, a research group in Kyoto Japan has succeeded in processing and displaying optically received images directly from the human brain. Here's the Japanese press release for good measure. One step closer to broadcasting your dreams? The research is due to be published today in the US scientific journal Neuron

6 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. No more lack of artistic skills for me by Ifandbut · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have lots of cool images in my head for comics and wallpaper, however I lack the artistic talent to bring those images from my mind to paper/photoshop. Maybe soon I will be able to compensate for my lack of artistic ability.

    1. Re:No more lack of artistic skills for me by fastest+fascist · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Maybe, although I personally find, as someone who has spent a considerable amount of time developing technical skill at drawing and painting, that the process of learning to draw has also considerably altered my aesthetic sensibilities. Drawing is ultimately not that much about knowing how to move your hand just right. In fact, it seems to me it is largely about forgetting about the hand, and concentrating on the form of what you are drawing instead... In any case, I doubt a direct mind-to-picture system would in itself be enough to make anyone an artist. Maybe to reproduce what a person sees in front of them, but to be able to make a picture without exact reference, you're still going to need to know very precisely what you want each detail to look like. I think even with this kind of tech there'd still be a pretty intense learning process involved.

  2. I still wonder by bigattichouse · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Years ago I was a sign language interpreter (ASL), and after a few years realized that I was thinking in ASL and "visually" instead of the usual auditory monologue... I always wondered if you use a completely different part of the brain to process the language - or if it just gets translated into language concepts before processing... I wonder how long before "telepathic" audio is available.

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    meh
  3. Feedback Loop? by drpentode · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Would looking at the image your brain is generating at the same time you are generating it create a feedback loop much like holding a microphone too close to a speaker?

  4. Re:Kinda neat, not that exciting though by fastest+fascist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'd mod you up if I could. It doesn't seem to me that when I imagine something in my head, there is actually a picture being made somewhere in my brain. It's an impression, a sense of shapes, something very fluid and ephemeral. I can, in a way, turn around three-dimensional objects "in my head", but the experience is far from looking at a video of an object turning. A simple dumb read of that kind of thing would probably be very difficult, although a person could perhaps train themselves to solidify their ideas into image form via a neural interface, much as they can ordinarily do with pen and paper, for example.

  5. The Opposite by Clandestine_Blaze · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if the process can be reversed, and images can be fed into the brain to create a dream sequence? Will people who really hate their reality use this as an escape and never try to wake up again?

    Cool story!

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    Best "String" Ever!