Honestly, do you really think that the only use for these innovations is domination by a totalitarian regime, or do you just always speak in hyberbole to try and be interesting?
I don't think so... According to that pic they have to see something first before they get any brain activity, so to help the blind you'd need to do things in reverse, but how do you reproduce the specific brain activity that makes the colours and shapes?
...Maybe if you had access to their optic nerves, assuming those were still intact, and you knew what types of impulses to send through those, perhaps that could be a viable interface?
Seems a little invasive though.
I know you can use sensors that just stick on the side of your head for certain activities, which would be preferable, but interacting with the brain's vision centres seems a bit complex for those?
"Inkmonkey" Said: If by that you mean help them to forfeit all their freedoms!
What other reason could there be? We all know what makes you go blind...
Dirty, dirty blind people.
When I saw the title for this thread, I had one guess as to who created it. I was right.
I really do think the process could be reverse-engineer to help people have sight. If you can interpret the brainwaves to make the picture come on screen, then why not figure out how to replicated and create the brainwaves? Then, a vision-impaired person could mount a small camera into their head and have it pipe those replicated brainwaves into their visual cortex.
At least, it's a fun idea.
And I don't buy the idea of it being some sort of monitoring device or "thought police" apparatus... after all, it only sees what you're currently looking at. And the guy running the machine can already tell you're watching a Steve Martin movie. Create a machine that can see your memories, then we have a problem.
"lothar" Said: this could also be used to help blind people.
They already have something similar.
They're doing tons of stuff related to bionic technology today. Artificial arms and legs that respond to nerve impulses and hearing aids for deaf people.
This post was last edited on Nov 7,`09 1:24pm
Those were my two cents.
If you have any other questions, please deposit a quarter.
PP has the device. STill, seems a bit invasive... Now if they could do that same sort of thing with sensors just stuck on the sides of your head, that'd be even better
"Hawk" Said: Create a machine that can see your memories, then we have a problem.
They probably could you know. Vision and memories of vision are pretty similar inside the brain.
And with something like dreams-
Ever wonder why dreams feel so real? When you touch, taste, see, smell, or hear things? It's because the same parts of your brain are producing those sensations as they are when you're awake and they produce them after interpreting real stimuli.
...That being said, with this device in reverse, especially using the one PP shows there, you could pretty easily give people false visions.
Or it could be a great new way to deliver entrainment.
Man... no more flat screens, instead you just see it directly inside your head.
This really has nothing to do with what you think though does it? It's only capable of replaying visual imagery. Chances are good that it can't put an abstract thought into the form of a picture just an image that someone has seen. So another words, if you only thought about blowing up a building then this thing won't detect that.
Besides, we've had technology that was capable of determining what a person was thinking about by reading the portions of their brain that lit up, for several years, and they've yet to start implanting that into folk's brains.
Besides, we've had technology that was capable of determining what a person was thinking about by reading the portions of their brain that lit up, for several years, and they've yet to start implanting that into folk's brains.
as PP kinda pointed out, the blind technology is already in use, and this thing that kyupol is pointing out, is actually an offshoot of that, and not the other way around
also, i've found a google chrome bug that if i touch any of the edit buttons (ie: underline, italics quote etc...) up top, it automatically replies to the thread.
all that does it relay impulses from optic nerves to a monitor. calling it "brain activity" is like calling the case of your computer electronics, you're generalizing to make it sound more impressive than it is.
it can't read thoughts anymore the humorman can tell a joke.
all that does it relay impulses from optic nerves to a monitor. calling it "brain activity" is like calling the case of your computer electronics, you're generalizing to make it sound more impressive than it is.
it can't read thoughts anymore the humorman can tell a joke.
I still think it's a tad scary. It's not that far yet, but how long until it is?
I know it probably sounds paranoid, but it's only a matter of time before they start making technology to interpret thoughts.
"The only moral it is possible to draw from this story is that one should never throw the letter Q into a privet bush, but unfortunately there are times when it is unavoidable."
-Douglas Adams, The Restaurant At the End of the Universe
I imagine my hazy plans to overthrow the MIC and replace it with something a tad more... humane would get even blurrier once I read my outline while hooked up to this machine.
Of course, once you outline the plan, you're kind of committed, and I'd rather have maximum flexibility in execution (of the plan, not of people, let's be clear here).