Friday, September 21, 2007

Brain-Computer Interface

Imagine you could just think about composing a paper and your words would appear in front of you. And you could just think about surfing the web, and you saw it. Or you could just think about the latest first person shooter and then you were in it, able to touch and smell the environment. It might not be so long before that's possible.

A few years ago, Rhesus monkeys were trained to control a robotic arm using just their thoughts. (cite) And some humans even have robotic prostheses which respond to their thoughts and give rudimentary feedback as the sensation of touch. (cite)

With further refinement, it's not a huge leap to my hypothetical in the beginning. As computers' speed grows exponentially, it won't be long before one can fit in your head and it could connect to the internet through Wi-Fi.

How such a computer's interface would work is anyone's guess. Mine is that you could control it with your thoughts like a limb, and it would superimpose its feedback onto your senses.

Of course, there would be problems associated with a brain-computer interface. Getting a computer virus could be disastrous.

I'm still gonna get one anyway.

2 comments:

bucket of calculators said...

What would be pretty cool. And yea, if you get a virus, you are going to have a melt-down.....literally.

Curiosity said...

I actually read this book called Feed by... someone I don't remember. It was about people who were so wired to the internet that their physical bodies were falling apart. They even got a computer virus through a broadcast on the internet in their brain and had to go to the hospital. If you find this interesting, you should really check the book out.