4 ms·
On the other hand, going in the other direction (from machine to brain) is actually surprisingly easy. It turns out that, when you take what is possibly the bes
by nbadg 10y ago
On the other hand, going in the other direction (from machine to brain) is actually surprisingly easy. It turns out that, when you take what is possibly the best general-purpose signal and pattern interpretation and recognition engine in the entirety of our observable[1] universe (aka the human brain), and combine it with any kind of consistent, interpretable feedback from the outside world, after a little while it just kinda figures it out and goes along with it [2]. From stimulation under the tongue producing sight in the blind to a vibrating belt compass giving people a subcognitive sense of north vs south, the brain is really damn good at doing this. So in that sense, it's looking incredibly promising.
The success of innervated prosthetics[3] suggests that the peripheral nervous system is a viable point of access as well. And, what's more, these interfaces are already bidirectional.
This is absolutely wild conjecture, but I've had the thought for a while that you could conceivably induce (or externally grow and then graft) a new peripheral nervous "port" somewhere. It'd be a bit like teeing off of a plumbing line (understatement of difficulty level: over 9000), and then you'd have a dedicated cluster of new nerves you could start to "play" with, sending and receiving arbitrary signals. But there are some very difficult ethical questions involved for anyone who were hypothetically interested in pursuing this approach.
Ultimately, that's what I think (rightly) holds us back for BCI: invasive procedures are just too ethically questionable for anything other than self-modification, which is okay in the body-hacking community, but still decidedly un-mainstream.
[1] At this point in time, since we've yet to find extraterrestrial life, caveat emptor, etc etc etc
[2] Points-of-entry for googling and wiki'ing: "neural plasticity" and "sensory substitution"
[3] Terms to search for: "innervated prosthetics" and "targeted reinnervation"
- Natanael_L 10y agoMy personal scifi idea: induce the growth of such a cluster of nerves in the neck, manipulate some of them to better respond to specific stimuli as an input, and try to force the brain to rewire itself to use the other nerves in the cluster as an output (not sure how to do this, but see reinforcement [1] for my current idea). [1] http://qz.com/757516/paraplegics-are-learning-to-walk-again-with-virtual-reality/ http://qz.com/757516/paraplegics-are-learning-to-walk-again-... Then you make a necklace as an interface with the noninvasive BCI hardware, communicating through your skin. (considering all the other noninvasive options, a necklace seems to be the most appropriate IMHO) I've got no idea on how to make the nerves susceptible enough for it to provide useful bandwidth, but maybe a properly primed stemcell injection could provide the growth of usable nerves for it. From there you can give the brain new senses via various sensors, give us high speed mental computer interfaces (awesome for quick calculations) and ditch the need for physical remote controls.
- nbadg 10y ago> and try to force the brain to rewire itself to use the other nerves in the cluster as an output I think that's very likely to be innately possible, given both research like you linked, as well as existing animal experiments with BCI. The brain is just an incredibly impressive thing.