Tag Archives: technology

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"Mind-reading" machines beginning to appear

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RobertFuddBewusstsein17Jh A neckband that picks up nerve signals and translates them into speech has been demonstrated for the first time. (Via NewScientistTech.)

With training, a user can send nerve signals to their vocal cords without making a sound that the neckband picks up and relays wirelessly to a computer, which then converts them into words spoken by a voice synthesizer.

This same device has been used to let people control wheelchairs using their thoughts.

Currently the system, called Audeo, can only recognize a limited set of about 150 words and phrases, but by the end of the year there’s supposed to be an improved version without a vocabulary limit. Although it will be slower–it’s based on phonemes, not whole words–it will allow people to say whatever they want, and should be a boon to people who have lost the ability to speak due to disease or injury.

It’s not the only “mind-reading” technology that’s been in the news recently, either. Researchers at the University of California have developed a system that uses functional MRI data to decode information from the visual cortex. Using it, the scientists were able to figure out which of more than 100 previously unseen photographs subjects were looking at.

What lies at the end of that road? Possibly the ability to access dreams and memories–assuming the way the brain processes dreams is analogous to visual stimuli.

And then there’s the “mind-reading” car that monitors a driver’s brain activity and reduces the amount of information displayed on the dash during stressful periods. In tests, the system has speeded up driver’s reactions by as much as 100 milliseconds–equivalent to reducing braking distance by nearly three metres at 100 kilometres per hour.

The phrase “I know what you’re thinking” has thus far only been addressed by one human to another, and only in a metaphorical sense.

Someday soon, our machines could make it literal.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons.)

[tags]technology, brain, telepathy, communication[/tags]

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Asimov’s Three Laws of Weigh-Ins

Alice Wang's half-truth scale Isaac Asimov‘s robot stories were based around his famous Three Laws of Robotics, the first of which states that a robot may not injure a human being.

Asimov got lots of stories out of the many unanticipated behaviours his three laws might provoke in robots under various scenarios. His robots, though, were high-tech sentient creatures with “positronic brains.” I don’t think he ever contemplated applying his laws to everyday household products.

Designer Alice Wang has, though, and regarding Asimov’s First Law, wonders, “Are there existing domestic objects that already break this law?”, and comes up with a surprising answer–bathroom scales:

Scales, although don’t perform physical harm, have been subtly damaging us psychologically. Should objects like these exist in a complex society like ours where people are more emotionally fragile?

She has therefore designed three scales that might reduce the emotional harm caused by the mean old scale. The first, called white lies, allows the person being weighed to lie to him or herself: the further back you stand on it, the lighter you become. “The user can gradually move closer and closer to reality,” she notes. (Via Gizmodo.)

The second, called half-truth, can only be read by a person who is not on the scale: its readout is at the front edge, perpendicular to the floor. “Suitable for cohabiting partners,” notes Wang.

Finally, there’s open secrets, which doesn’t show you your weight at all: it sends a text message to a specified mobile phone, instead. The recipient of the message can then decide whether to share your weight with you immediately, the next time you meet–or not at all. “Suitable for pre-cohabiting couples,” says Wang.

Up next: the Heinleinian Starship Troopers scale, which will only consent to weigh you if you first serve two years in the military.

(Photo: Alice Wang.)

[tags]Asimov,robots,technology,design[/tags]

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Cyber Goggles – wearable memory aid

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Tokyo-University-Cyber-Goggles More Japanese cyber-technology! These Cyber Goggles have been developed at the University of Tokyo; they record video footage of everyday objects, run them through an object recognition routine and file them away in a database. End result – a searchable visual log of where you last saw something, suggested as an ideal aid to the elderly whose memories aren’t so sharp as they once were. [image from Pink Tentacle article]

Sure, they look a little clunky right now, but that’s just a prototype – size and bulk won’t be a problem by the time they get these things to production.

The real problem, as pointed out in the comments, is how to make sure the forgetful user doesn’t forget where they left their Cyber Goggles …

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"Silicon womb" trials to begin in UK

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henna-pregnancy No, it’s not a reproductive upgrade for your uber-1337 gaming PC. Instead, it’s a way of increasing the odds of success for in-vitro fertilization:

“The new device allows embryos created in the lab to be incubated inside a perforated silicon container inserted into a woman’s own womb. After a few days, the capsule is recovered and some embryos are selected for implantation in the womb.

Embryos incubated in the lab must have their growth medium changed every few hours to provide new nutrients and get rid of waste. The new device provides a more natural environment.”

So, while technology is an adjunct to biology in matters reproductive, the body still knows best. I wonder if we’ll ever be able to simulate biological processes that are effectively identical to the real thing ? Perhaps some new form of Sir Arthur C Clarke’s aphorism comes into effect – “any sufficiently advanced biotechnology is indistinguishable from life” … [image by aturkus]

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Mice? Where we’re going, we don’t need mice.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve adapted well to the standard keyboard/mouse computer interface. I started as a child with DOS and Win 3.1. Touch-typing on various-languages’ keyboards are no problem and my twitch response works well in Team Fortress 2.

Unfortunately, this ability honed over decades may soon be obsolete, what with some new technologies on demonstration at the Game Developer’s Conference recently. Specifically, eye-tracking hardware from EyeTech that is currently available (for several thousand dollars) allows the disabled to simply look at a place on the screen and the cursor goes there. It’s a rather expensive way to reduce repetitive stress injury, but according to the journalist trying it out, it makes games almost too easy.

We’ve written before about touchless interfaces, and there’s a promising brainwave-powered interface on the horizon too. The future’s bright for new ways to handle digital interactions. Check out the rest of the Ars Technica piece for some other interesting ways to interface reality and digital gaming.

(photo from flickr user F1RSTBORN)