Brain implants - science fiction becoming reality.

[Vertigo]

Check this out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18092653

Whilst I knew there was a lot of work going on in this area I hadn't realised quite how far they have advanced. Quite remarkable!

[J-Sun]

It definitely is. A long way to go yet, obviously, but a significant distance already covered.

[Overread]

I recall reading semi-recently that one guy had gotten as far as an implant in his wrist which read the electrical signals and allowed him to remote control a robotic hand; but this is a cut above that indeed (though it could even be the same team or part of). Its' really something quite astounding and certainly one can see a massive amount of potential with this kind of tech.

I suspect they've still a lot to iron out and I wonder what additional support might have been running software/user wise to aid the robotic arm to make a smoother control possible - but as said it seems they've already made some very big steps - the key ones I would think in getting the control possible. Hopefully advances now might come faster as its more refinement of the existing theory rather than cracking into new areas.

[Dave]

I read that yesterday and I really felt for Cathy Hutchinson, who for the first time in years could take a drink without someone's help. It is hardly Terminal Man or Robocop though. I wouldn't get over excited just yet.

[Vertigo]

Overread: they mentioned and talked to the guy with the implant in his wrist in the report I heard on the news yesterday. I got the impression that this work is following on from that.

What fascinated me is that I suspect a lot of the real work is being done by the lady's brain. The actual 'sensors' on the implant thing cannot possibly be precisely placed so I suspect they place it in the correct area of the brain and then rely on the brain's superb plasticity to make sense from the visual feedback. Much the same way a baby learns to control it's own limbs. Once that early control is established I suspect it will only improve further.

I think it's also likely that there are a lot less 'channels' than in a real nerve so I suspect it will be a while before the control is very precise.

[Kamosis]

I read this same new just yesterday, it's really amazing what they did and the possibilities this kind of technology opens are incredible!

[Vertigo]

I agree; the same principle will surely be extended to input as well as output so offering possibilities for the blind, deaf etc. I know work has already been going on on the blind side of things.

Beyond helping those in this kind of need, the possibilities for communication both with others and with computers are also mind boggling.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Vertigo

I know work has already been going on on the blind side of things.

There was a report of a colourblind man who could hear colours with aid of a camera and audio software.

[Vertigo]

Dave, did you see the documentary a while back (unfortuantely I can't even remember what it was about, never mind the name). There was a blind guy who could ride a bicycle and 'see' by clicking his tongue and hearing, essentially, the echoes. Had to be somewhere quiet though!

It continually staggers me how adaptable our brain is. From something as small as getting your 'sea legs' to something like this.

[Dave]

No, I didn't see that. I know of studies of people who have lost parts of their brain, but where other parts have taken over the same function.

In the future, I'm sure we will all be cyborgs with additional memory, processing and functions by way of implants. I just think it is further away than these reports suggest. I'm a little squeamish about it myself. I don't want anyone to mess with my brain. To quote Woody Allen, it's my second favourite organ. However, I foresee a time when you will be disadvantaged if you don't have a cybernetic enhancement.

[Vertigo]

I think that's very true Dave, and yes, I'd agree we're still a long way off. But a significant step all the same. Unlike you I find the prospect exciting but like any new technology it will have severe dangers associated with it. For instance, one can also imagine it being used to control minds.

[Dave]

I never said it wasn't exciting. I think the idea of have instant internet access would be a huge benefit in many jobs. You mention disadvantages and the control of minds - I already mentioned The Terminal Man . That covers that. I think my own reluctance to embrace it would be that I couldn't be sure my thoughts were my own any more. I really find it hard to say exactly why, but I can see it is coming all the same, and that if you don't opt in, you will be sidelined.

[Huttman]

McCoy, as he attempts to restore Spock's brain: "I'm never going to be able to live this down, this Vulcan is telling me how to operate."

[Overread]

I have no doubt that, barring social collapse, we will one day end up in the world of Ghost in the Shell to some degree. That being one where cybernetic progress is at a point where its possible to enhance body performance and brain performance. Socially it will be one of those massive turning points in life - though I suspect it will be one that will creep through rather than brashly appear all at once.

Of course the big question will be if you can or can't trust your own brain in such an environment - however I also suspect that its a viewpoint that might well be one held by the old and lost upon the younger.

[Metryq]

Originally Posted by Overread

where its possible to enhance body performance and brain performance.

It may not be enhancing all the time, certainly not at first. In the opening titles of GITS-SAC we see a dream sequence with Kusanagi's out-of-control hand crushing a doll. Then we see her waking up in bed, her hand quivering. Is that the nerve damage that led to her early cyberization, or does she still have trouble controlling her artificial body?

While doing orthopedic animation, I heard an anecdote from one of the sales people who said there was a case of a dancer—in perfectly good health—wanting hip prosthetics because she felt it would give her a greater range of movement. I don't know if the story is true. It sounds like the sort of pinheaded thing someone without all the facts might desire.

Of course the big question will be if you can or can't trust your own brain in such an environment

One of the realities of the GITS world is hacking of cyberbrains. In the movie I, ROBOT Detective Spooner slept with a gun in his right hand because he did not trust his cybernetic left hand.

But if that's not what you meant, Junichi Fujisaku, who wrote for the GITS-SAC series, wrote several spin-off novels. In one story there is a teen who received his cyberbrain "late" in life due to earlier medical conflicts. Unprepared for the new power over the world around him and his own body, the teen withdraws in a depression, almost killing himself and shutting down his body.