Brainwaves Become Commands

Great article on Makezine with two videos showing how a company named Neurosky is developing technology which reads controllable states of your brain to allow control of objects within a virtual space.  Their mission mentions both additions to the gaming industry as well as allowing individuals to control real-world objects such as wheelchairs.

This is truly breakthrough interface technology.  But…

Currently, we have ‘Net addiction, Crackberry addiction and research beginning to show how our constant immersion in multitasking environments are creating stress and discomfort and detracting from our lives.  The question must be asked: as individuals modify their mental patterns to control these devices, what negative ramifications will this have on the future youth?  I could certainly see this becoming an issue in which constant practice drives a form of neural addiction.

MIT’s 3D Installation Pwns Roger Rabbit

You have to watch the video to appreciate what they’ve developed at MIT.  Using an interactive display to create virtual artifacts in virtual space, tagged to a specific location in the real world.  Then, moving the display around, allows you to view the virtual object from all sides.  Certainly something to watch.

‘Wii warm-up’ good for surgeons via Gizmodo

Specific games, requiring fine motor skills, were found to benefit surgeons’ skills when operating in a simulator.  The belief is that the dexterity requirements “warm up” the surgeons and better prepare them for surgical work.  Further proof that some bad things are good for you.

Project Aiko

A project to build an android is taking place in Canada.  Designed to mimic the human ability to feel pain, partially as an effort build limbs to help amputees replace lost tactile function (specifically mentions pain, which is an interested starting point).

Quote from the site “It is my dream to have Aiko be as human-like as possible. I’m not sure
if it is possible, but there is no way to find out unless I try.”

Meets a few of my categories:

Body Alteration: Ability to replace lost body parts.

Intimacy/Recreation: Tactile function at a distance?  Will take teledildonics to new levels.  Bots which are capable of sex, but offer a more human level of interaction, may allow for more fulfilling relationships.

Healing/Psychology: We can only assume prosthetics with the ability to replicate nerve function would allow for more complete recovery for amputees (and possibly to discover methods for individuals with irreversible nerve damage) over time.

Interface: Would this allow us to use robotics to “feel” items at a distance?  Certainly a step up for surgeons operating from a distance and engineers manufacturing technology by hand.

Bug Labs

From the site: “BUG is a collection of easy-to-use electronic
modules that snap together to build any gadget you can imagine. Each
BUGmodule represents a specific gadget function (ex: a camera, a
keyboard, a video output, etc.). You decide which functions to include
and BUG takes care of the rest, letting you try out different combinations quickly and easily. With BUG
and the integrated programming environment/online community (BUGnet),
anyone can build, program and share innovative devices and
applications. We don’t define the final products – you do.”

Combining this technology with open source software and OS will allow all of us more freedom in what capabilities our tech will include.  The freedom to pair hardware parts to software to more hardware will open up our ability to create an environment to match our needs/wants. 

It will also mean we can select what type of inputs to provide our robots/house software/sex dolls.  It will also mean lawbreakers will possess a massive range of technologies to perpetrate crime.

Two articles by MSNBC and the Times Online about a movement to define the ethics of how robots will be treated and the beginning of a code of ethics to define individuals who are involved in robot R&D.  Statements in the article include a belief that robots will be used for sex and eventually seen as marriageable individuals by 2050.   Both are excellent articles, which cover the same material from two different angles.  Worth reading in combination.

The blueBook

Using a traditional book and covering the print with a conductive ink, the text becomes hyperlinks which, via a processor embedded in the book cover, signals a response on a nearby computer.   Given the constant arguments between traditional books and portable e-reader technologies, there will need to be a discussion of what is best for educational environments, especially for younger students who may benefit from the more traditional format (my opinion on helping children focus, not based on any research I am aware of).  Part of my development was a consistent diet of fantasy novels, often written at a much higher reading level than I was comfortable with (I was introduced to Tolkien in the 3rd grade), which would be read with a dictionary next to me.  As I encountered words I did not understand, I would look it up, work the meaning into the context, and continue.  This might be an excellent method for just in time training for anyone of any age.

I do believe the Kindle and its competitors will be the grown-up tool of choice for accessing and hyperlinking text.  But, I’m not sold that children under the age of 13 need to be using digital solutions, though there is a certain benefit.  We’ll need to track this option to see the eventual implementation.

Japanese Robot Cat Provides Companionship, Nightmares

Cats today…dragons and qi-rin tomorrow.  Interesting idea, and much more realistic than the Aibo.  Could be an excellent invention for those who would benefit from access to a pet but are limited by immune defficiencies or allergies or an inability to care for a living pet.

Honey Doll Has Touch Sensors, Maons, Has Fake Orgasms

NSFW

There is no doubt the sex ‘bots are coming (no pun intended) and the land of the Rising Sun is leading the R&D.  Honey Dolls (http://www.honeydolls.jp/) offers pose able robots purely for sex.  Looking over their (creepy) site, it shows that the mouth is designed to maximize oral stimulation of the male, is water washable, contains sensors built into the breasts which trigger a “vocal” (mp3-based) response, and “Softness comparable to a real girl.”

Overall, there is nothing surprising from this and these might even be the ‘bots used in Lars and the Real Girl.  May be best to watch the movie to get an impression of the social impact on humans as these become more prevalent.

The scary part of this is yet another method in which “beautiful” women are commoditized for sexual use.  Our media has done an excellent job of extracting “personality” from attractive women and now average women will need to compete with the male fantasies based on real-world interaction with an attractive, perfectly proportioned, forever young and vocally responsive “female”.

One final point:  Kazi, Aki and the new “teen body” appear very young and, based on the marketing on the site, for a purpose.

Make Beautiful Brain Music

Artist Luciana Haill uses medical electroencephalogram, or EEG, monitors embedded in a Bluetooth-enabled sweatband to record the activity of her frontal lobes, then beams the data to a computer that plays it back as song.

Wired has a great article on Luciana Haill and a few other artists who are experimenting with creating music through neural interface. I have two thoughts on this theory. First, it creates a great test bed for furthering this form of interface, which will open the door for physically limited people interested in musical artistry. While that is very positive, my second, more jaded thought, is how this type of interface will eventually allow yet another subdivision of our focus as people attempt to control their music while attending to work.

Maybe a bit farfetched, but I have no doubt of the human animal’s ability to test the limits of our ability to screw up our lives.