Playing video games without a controller, being able to spot enemies at some 10,000 meters, its not science fiction, it is what is happening in the world today, the brain computer interface is quickly becoming reality.
Bionic Eyes - Wired breaks the news that DARPA has figured out a way to help solders detect enemies at a range that today is not possible with standard binoculars. Wired States:
U.S. Special Forces may soon have a strange and powerful new weapon in their arsenal: a pair of high-tech binoculars 10 times more powerful than anything available today, augmented by an alerting system that literally taps the wearer's prefrontal cortex to warn of furtive threats detected by the soldier's subconscious. Source: WiredMoreover, this is not just for solders either, the same technology can be used to help the visually impaired to see, and control or move objects in their own environment.
As the technology becomes more stable, if you have ocular degeneration, the process might just allow you to pop in a new set of eyes rather than dealing with the medical issues and life style issues of deteriorating vision.
Playing games without the controller
People can now play games, control Personal Computers and other systems just by simply using brain waves rather than a physical appendage like your arm or hand. Techwag looks at an article in Crunch Gear who reports:
There is one sensor that comes in contact with your forehead picks up your brain's electrical signals, then those are sent to a wireless receiver inside the lightsaber, which lights it up based on how hard you're concentrating. If you lose concentration because you're Mom is yelling at you to come to dinner then the lightsaber goes dim. Source: CrunchGearGear live has a great article here on the brain PC interface as well.
Although we are not too sure how the rumble feature will work without the controller, these incredible first steps makes the full brain computer interface much more likely in the future.
The implications though for this are people who really have some serious ailments like MS or have been paralyzed or other accident/disease process might just someday be interacting with the world, while their bodies are being taken care of in a nursing facility.
Imagine working with your co-workers as a presence rather than a physical body, although I would want to see the hologram version of me to interact with.
Overall, some really interesting technology that is coming out of the labs, and ones with some real potential to enhance human life.
All kidding about the borg aside, if our future is a combination of human and computer elements, lets hope I get to keep the hair and still have a good time.
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