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> they should presumably have the device warn of this happening How? Shock your brain? It's an implant. > What if it had been a pacemaker or something? The s

> they should presumably have the device warn of this happening How? Shock your brain? It's an implant. > What if it had been a pacemaker or something? The same question stands. How do you make the device provide reasonable feedback? Make your heart skip a few beats? How exactly is a pacemaker going to warn a user about an error condition? Given the circumstances, and the rarity of the error case, it sounds like the device switching itself off is the best course of action.

rsynnott 9y ago
There’s an external charger, per the article; it could presumably feed back to that when charging.
- bastawhiz 9y ago
  If the implant is shut off for safety reasons related to electrical issues, the last thing I'd want interacting with it in any way is the charger. Hell, we can't even get Macbooks that don't fry USB devices.
  - microcolonel 9y ago
    > Hell, we can't even get Macbooks that don't fry USB devices. Not sure why you'd assume the mainboard and peripheral circuit design on MacBooks would be particularly good, they seem to make the same mistakes for years on end.
- icebraining 9y ago
  Connecting your brain implant to the charger after it unexpectedly shut off due to lightning seems like a good way to earn a Darwin award.
dvno42 9y ago
I can speak to this a bit. Some pacers can be programmed to beep in certain situations to indicate things like, low battery. Alternatively you can set some models up so that when a magnet is applied, different programmable actions occur such as, changing the heart beat rythm to indicate what the expected remaining battery life is. There are also "at home" base stations which upload stats to the manufacturer who can call the patient (through the base station) when there are unexpected problems.
- MertsA 9y ago
  >changing the heart beat rythm to indicate what the expected remaining battery life is. Wow, now that is an interesting user interface.

rsynnott 9y ago

There’s an external charger, per the article; it could presumably feed back to that when charging.

bastawhiz 9y ago
If the implant is shut off for safety reasons related to electrical issues, the last thing I'd want interacting with it in any way is the charger. Hell, we can't even get Macbooks that don't fry USB devices.
- microcolonel 9y ago
  > Hell, we can't even get Macbooks that don't fry USB devices. Not sure why you'd assume the mainboard and peripheral circuit design on MacBooks would be particularly good, they seem to make the same mistakes for years on end.
icebraining 9y ago
Connecting your brain implant to the charger after it unexpectedly shut off due to lightning seems like a good way to earn a Darwin award.

dvno42 9y ago

I can speak to this a bit. Some pacers can be programmed to beep in certain situations to indicate things like, low battery. Alternatively you can set some models up so that when a magnet is applied, different programmable actions occur such as, changing the heart beat rythm to indicate what the expected remaining battery life is. There are also "at home" base stations which upload stats to the manufacturer who can call the patient (through the base station) when there are unexpected problems.

MertsA 9y ago
>changing the heart beat rythm to indicate what the expected remaining battery life is. Wow, now that is an interesting user interface.