Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Moran Cerf, When Will We Get Neuro Tech For Ourselves?
MIT's Media Lab had a great streaming talk today by Moran Cerf, a professor of neuroscience and business at the Kellogg School of Management and the neuroscience program at Northwestern university. He also studies patients undergoing brain-surgery to examine behavior, emotion and decision making. This is accomplished by recording the activity of individual nerve cells using electrodes implanted in the patient's brain for clinical purposes.
Twitter users were invited to submit questions; I asked:
"How long will it be until this technology is mature/cheap enough for individual people who want to hack their own minds?" #MLTalks
— Bill Christensen (@Technovelgy) April 23, 2015I was only able to jot down some of his response, so this is paraphrased:
In 2010, a story that I had perfected dream control went viral; I was asked by businesses about it, they. wanted to option it. Even though I don't have it... they still wanted it. And then 4 years it became possible.I think surgery, surgical implantation is the best way. However, I hope to replace this method with non-invasive methods, which are better...
SF stories are next. SF authors can write a script. They tap into millions of minds, we can tell that people have peak engagement. So how does a person sit in office and see what everyone wants?
I agree that prices are going down. However, real knowledge is a problem, but the world is not yet ready. people are not there yet.
(I also liked his t-shirt)
Science fiction fans have been reading stories that engage them, and stoke their imaginations. In his 1977 novel A Scanner Darkly, Philip K. Dick makes extensive use of the cephalochromoscope, a consumer device used for relaxation:
"Your cephalochromoscope that cost you nine hundred dollars, that you always turn on and play when you get home - Ernie and Barris were babbling away about it. They tried to use it today and it wouldn't work. No colors and no ceph patterns, neither one..."
(Read more about the cephalochromoscope or cephscope)
Note that the root words for cephalo-chromo-scope literally means "brain" - "color" + "watch or see".
SF movie fans may recall the 1983 movie Brainstorm, starring Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood. In the film, a team of scientists creates "The Hat, a special helmet that is able to read sensations from one person's brain and write them to tape so that others are able to experience them.
If brainwave-sensing consumer products tickle your fancy, take a look at the The Hair Brush That Reads Your Mind and the Hitachi Brain Scanner Fun Toy.
More about Moran Cerf; via MIT (I'll update this).
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/23/2015)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.' - Philip K. Dick, 1965.
ErythroMer Artificial Blood
'My chemists are all working on the preparation of the artificial blood.' - Dr. David H. Keller, M.D.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'
Mori3 Autonomous Shapeshifting Robot
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'
Tesla Seeks 'Tesla Robotaxi' And 'Robobus' Trademarks Ignoring Prior Art
'A robobus had just rolled up to the curb.'
Scary Grid Safety Robots
'The ultimate horror for our paranoid culture...'
Does AI Provide A Way Forward For Talk Therapy
'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.'
