
Kernel, a startup working on brain implants to link thoughts to computers - t23
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603771/the-entrepreneur-with-the-100-million-plan-to-link-brains-to-computers/
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chrisfosterelli
I do some of my Master's research in this space -- specifically trying to
build computer programs to interpret what a person is thinking of based on the
neural activity occurring within the brain. This field is so, so far away from
any sort of useful brain-computer interface, but there is exciting work going
on right now.

The biggest problem is that we don't understand how the brain works well
enough. It's quite complex and pulling out useful information is very
challenging. Machine learning algorithms can be ran on neural data
(fMRI/EEG/MEG) to identify some simple words or detect specific
intentions/reactions to stimuli, but we definitely aren't getting this
information at a rate which is anywhere near faster than current human
interaction methods and with nowhere near the accuracy (in real world
settings) we would need to be practically useful.

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gipp
Pardon my relative ignorance on the subject, but couldn't we take an approach
in which we attempt to let the _brain_ figure out how to interpret/send
signals? I.e. find a way to take advantage of the well-established extreme
plasticity of the brain, and let it figure out _our_ interface, rather than
the other way around?

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chrisfosterelli
There are some cases where plasticity can be useful. For example: if a
particular intention is associated with the neural activity while a person
lifts their arm, eventually the person can train themselves to trigger the
intention just by _thinking_ of lifting their arm (without actually doing it).
This is the brain learning to control the intention instead of the action.

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laughfactory
I seriously doubt that we'll ever get to the point that we're comfortable with
brain surgery just to upgrade our "connectedness." The real win is some sort
of skull cap which can read your brain signals, and communicate with your
brain through the skull. Seems impossible now, but I wouldn't be surprised if
they come up with a way.

My concern is that we haven't yet gotten smartphones right. Most of us love
and hate them. I'd love to have something like parental controls on my phone
which I could use to limit what I can do with it: set limits on my usage,
control which apps I can use, and limit what I can do with them. There's a
variety of enforcement mechanisms ranging from putting in a longer random
password and not writing it down, have my spouse set it up, have it setup
initially and then come up for review every three months...

But imagine if we all had something similar, inescapable, engaging,
entertaining, and utterly addicting in our heads. Yikes. Imagine if you've got
notification overload...In your head. Yikes.

No thanks. I'm still trying to get a handle on my damn smartphone addiction.

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mattcoles
This is worrying. The surveillance capabilities here alone are terrifying, not
to mention the potential future invasive adverts we could be presented with. I
hope this doesn't happen in my lifetime.

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njloof
Not to worry. The implant will help you adjust to the idea. You'll be telling
all your friends how great it is!

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amiga-workbench
Lets hope the FSF make some progress with the larger public before we descend
into such a hellscape.

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cbanek
While the whole brain thought interface is a great idea, I really just wish I
had some kind of keyboard and mouse I could control with my mind, and a pair
of glasses with my screens. That would eliminate so many ergonomic issues, and
probably increase speed as well. I wonder what typing looks like in the
brain...

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deathhand
We have a very basic understanding how our brains function. They are most
complex bilogical thing we have ever encountered and due to morality issues
it's very difficult to test hypothesises on. Sadly this man's quest will not
come to fruition but a better allocation of effort would be to the get the
NIH/WHO data set of scans be freely available for AI to start figuring out
patterns. There wouldn't be any real economic activity to do so(the shame!)
But what I believe is necessary to move the field forward.

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Keverw
I think a brain interface to computers and phones would be useful but privacy
would really worry me. Hack someone's brain, and you get way too personal
info. Sometimes when I'm reading on my tablet, I think it'd be cool if it
would just scroll when I get towards the bottom. Eye tracking might work, but
I feel like you'd falsely trigger it sometimes.

Also, I feel like I think way faster than I can type. I can visualize the
piece of code in my head before I even type it out. Imagine no more spelling
mistakes :)

Brain surgery already seems very scary, as you have to stay awake during it.
Then when they come out with new hardware generations, go under the knife
again? Brain surgeries also are expensive. But I could see how something like
this would make me 100x more productive than I am now. So if I created
something really cool using my new special abilities it would probably pay for
itself.

So I see a lot of upsides and downsides. I don't know if this would be
something I'd want to be an early adaptor of, though. Imagine if the company
supporting it went out of business, now you have this unmaintained piece of
hardware in your head. If something like this was perfected, I feel like this
would be an asset to have just for the productivity advantages.

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mirimir
Well, speech provides 10-100 bps, which isn't much. But I doubt that pulling
speech-driving data would do any better. You'd need to work at lower levels.
There's probably lots of multidimensional parallel processing at play.

Requisite plug for _Echopraxia_ by Peter Watts :)

