Posted by: Wildcat | October 29, 2008

Jacking into the Brain–Is the Brain the Ultimate Computer Interface?

Scientific American explores Brain-Computers interface
clipped from www.sciam.com

How far can science advance brain-machine interface technology? Will we one day pipe the latest blog entry or NASCAR highlights directly into the human brain as if the organ were an outsize flash drive?

Key Concepts

  • Futurists and science-fiction writers speculate about a time when brain activity will merge with computers.
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  • Technology now exists that uses brain signals to control a cursor or prosthetic arm. How much further development of brain-machine interfaces might progress is still an imponderable.
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  • It is at least possible to conceive of inputting text and other high-level information into an area of the brain that helps to form new memories. But the technical hurdles to achieving this task probably require fundamental advances in understanding the way the brain functions.
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    Will Human Become Machine?

    Posted in Brain, Brain, Neuroscience, Computing, Future Design, Mind, Science, Technology, Uncategorized | Tags: ,

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    Responses

    1. I believe that we’re still in the dark ages concerning brain function. Knowing via neuroimaging the brain area that gets activated when an arm moves, and plugging an electrode there that controls a robotic arm in disabled doesn’t mean much. The real “boom” in merging of brain and machine, will be when our knowledge lets us address the third point of your post, how information is stored in the brain. How we can change synapses and chemicals, so that we have 2-way flow of information: from the brain outwards, and from the outside environment to the brain.

      This might be a totally different topic, but I strongly believe that a significant change on the machine interfaces that allows us to exchange information with each other, will create a huge difference. For this, see as an example slowness of typing, reading from the screen, visiting webpages etc. I think the bandwidth of the current networks is greatly underutilized, given that the Kbps of a DSL line stay idle while I write this blog post ! What would be the interface that allows me to assimilate information (maybe not by reading) while I transfer my thoughts for this post ?

      By: @agbiotec - twitter on October 29, 2008
      at 3:10 am

      Reply


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