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Intel Says Brain Implants Could Control Computers By 2020
Lucas123 writes "Scientists at Intel are working on developing sensors that would be implanted in a person's head in order to harness brain waves that could then be used to control computers, televisions, cell phones and other electronic equipment. Intel has already used Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) machines to determine that blood flow changes in specific areas of the brain based on what word or image someone is thinking of. People tend to show the same brain patterns for similar thoughts. 'Eventually people may be willing to be more committed ... to brain implants. Imagine being able to surf the Web with the power of your thoughts.' said Intel research scientist Dean Pomerleau."
I can get direct neural input from the Playboy channel.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Computer implants will control brains by 2019.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
In the spirit of XKCD, should I get the chip installed in my brain and wait until Linux patches in support? Or wait for an Open Source alternative?
is someone trying to figure out a way to get advertising into my mind. We all know someone is going to try.
Fortunately, feeding input directly into the brain is more difficult that reading output from it.
First Lasers, and soon brain implants! Today is full of win! Its the effin Future!
Why do people insist on looking towards devices that need to be surgically implanted to operate?
Sure the interface is more difficult when it is outside the skull, but the barriers to adoption would be much lower also, would they not? Not to mention support, upgrades, product life cycle, etc.
Are they really that shortsighted?
Imagine the damage a "keylogger" could do in a system like this.
My mind is the last sanctuary I have left, and I'm not going to jeopardize it by connecting it into a system which can be easily tapped, read, and quite probably manipulated by an outside force.
Funny may not give karma, but +5 Informative never made anyone snort coffee out their nose.
I recently heard an NPR article about this kind of thing.
Using real time MRI, someone could be presented with flashcards of common objects (screwdriver, igloo, flower, etc). When they thought about those objects, certain areas of the brain lit up.
The scientists said that when you think of a screwdriver, there isn't a single "screwdriver" area that lights up. Instead, you think of how it looks, what it feels like in your hand, what it's used for. You might think of construction workers, or your favorite screwdriver in your workbench at home. So lots of areas in the brain "light up".
What's amazing to me is that it appeared to be the SAME AREAS for DIFFERENT people.
As an example of this, the NPR production assistant (who was just visiting and helping with the interview) got hooked up to the MRI and was shown the flashcards. The computer, by looking at her brain, successfully guessed 10 out of 10. Even though the computer "learned" from someone else!
I suppose someone who'd never seen a screwdriver before wouldn't have the same sort of response, so it's probably limited to people with the same cultural backgrounds.
Pretty neat stuff.
In the future...
"Wait, Dad, you mean you used to have to move your arm to change the channel on the TV?"
"That's nothing, son. Great-Grandpa had to actually get up off the sofa and move to the TV to turn a dial."
Son physically reels. "Whoa, stop, you're blowin' my mind. But they did have motor-sofas to move you to the TV, right?"
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
The convenience of being able to navigate to a URL without having to type it is a really limited example. How about writing music with it? Being able to notate exactly what's playing in your head without needing to manually write a single note down? Weeks worth of work reduced to a few minutes! Or art: Can't draw? Just visualize!
Anything you can think about but can't actually do would be fair game.
Even with those sorts of apps, I still wouldn't get an implant unless my skull was being opened up for some other reason already. It's certainly not a fair tradeoff against something as simple as web browsing, as the summary suggests. I'm all for the braincaps. That's where BCI technology's headed anyway. And those have the distinct advantage of being removable as well...
Why, oh why does everyone at Intel think that people just want to 'surf the web' with whatever they happen to invent? You invent freaking brain implants and the first obvious use becomes surfing the web?
It could not be ... `write code` or `use photoshop` or .. anything even remotely challenging to a human brain?
Ah well.
Honest to Dog, I swear we've been "just a decade away" from mass distribution of optical implants to aid the blind since the SEVENTIES! I've given up on stories about the distribution of ALL brain interfaces that are "just a decade away (Really, trust me!)" until I see local news stories about my neighborhood hospital installing them and insurance paying for them.
Well that's not that hard to imagine, since silicone implants have been controlling men's minds since the early 60's...
Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"