Dr. Philip Low wearing the "iBrain" (Misha Gravenor/TechnologyReview.com)A team of California scientists have developed the world's first portable brain scanner, and it may soon be able to "read a person's mind," playing a major role in facilitating medical breakthroughs.KGTV reports that the device, created by San Diego-based NeuroVigil, and dubbed the iBrain, fits over a person's head and measures unique neurological patterns connected to specific thought processes.
Low says the goal is to eventually have a large enough database of these brainwaves that a computer could essentially read a person's thoughts out loud. One person who has already tried out the iBrain is famed physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking.
"We'd like to find a way to bypass
his body, pretty much hack his brain," said Low. This past summer, Low
traveled to Cambridge, England, where he met with Hawking, who was asked
to think "very hard" about completing various tasks while wearing the
device.
NeuroVigil says the device could be used at home by individuals and
worn during sleep. It comes equipped with a USB port for transferring
the recorded data to a local computer.
Beyond so-called mind reading, the
device has potential medical applications, such as enlisting the iBrain
to help doctors prescribe the correct levels of medication based on a
person's brainwave responses. In addition, Low says the iBrain could be
used to help treat sleep disorders, depression and even autism.
"This is the first step to personalized medicine," Low said.
end quote from:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/ibrain-read-mind-enlists-stephen-hawking-223110217.html
This is the second article about the IBrain that I have quoted and commented on. Though it could help people a lot it also has the capacity to be used as an infinite level lie detector or even potentially for putting in memories that were not there to begin in brains with sort of like the "Total Recall" movies. So, it is completely unpredictable which directions all this will go in both now and into the future.
end quote from:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/ibrain-read-mind-enlists-stephen-hawking-223110217.html
This is the second article about the IBrain that I have quoted and commented on. Though it could help people a lot it also has the capacity to be used as an infinite level lie detector or even potentially for putting in memories that were not there to begin in brains with sort of like the "Total Recall" movies. So, it is completely unpredictable which directions all this will go in both now and into the future.
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