Reading minds now reality
Mikey 7 comments
It turns out mind reading isn't as far away as we all thought, because Japanese researchers have - wait for this - developed a method for retrieving images in peoples minds and displaying them on a computer monitor.
By analysing changes in a subjects cerebral blood flow using a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine, the scientists were able to reconstruct various images. The subjects were shown 10 x 10 pixel images for 12 seconds while the machine monitored and recorded the activity in the brain. But enough techno babble - the images below speak for themselves.
It's ground breaking technology no doubt, but I'm more surprised to learn that our brains store memories as badly compressed jpg's.
Jokes aside, I would like to know how this technology could be applied to coma patients and other people who are alive but show little brain activity (people who voted for McCain in the last US election come to mind).
Source: English | Original Japanese
Joe Marco
Friday 12th December 2008 | 08:26 PMOnce again, Science Fiction becomes reality. Next stop: We become the Borg.
...in response to this comment by Joe Marco. Kudso not only for the Star Trek reference, but for also not being far from the truth!
Kim OJ
Saturday 13th December 2008 | 03:44 AMI think the problem is that this is not universal. This is just how one brain compresses the images, and you would not be able to use this data to read a different mind. That reduces the usability quite a lot. Of course you could go in and have your brain functions mapped so that people can know what you are thinking if you fall into a coma, but with the high plasticity of the brain, chances are that your brain compression will have chance by or because of the coma.
Mark
Saturday 13th December 2008 | 08:59 AMNot surprised they look like dodgy JPEGs, all of my picture memories are that bad at best! I wonder though if the compression techniques are a product of evolution and a key reason for our supposed superior intelligence...
Jake Farr-Wharton
Monday 15th December 2008 | 08:03 AMIt's a little pixely...
andrew
Tuesday 16th December 2008 | 09:52 PMnow we can watch our dreams!!
Anders
Friday 12th December 2008 | 07:54 PMHoly shit is this real? The potential for privacy invasion is unlimited. But still cool tech!