The Rise of the Cyborgs
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Discover Magazine has just blown me away with a fascinating story on the current state of brain-computer interfaces (BCI). The story cites numerous projects underway across the globe in which electrodes implanted into the brain are being used to detect and transmit human intentions, and the progress being achieved is incredible. Here at the Hub we have already seen monkeys that can control prosthetic arms through brain implants. The story from Discover Magazine shows us that such achievements are just the tip of the iceberg, and that a host of other breakthroughs in the field of BCI are turning up all over the place.
The implications for BCI are absolutely stunning. Paraplegics will regain the ability to move their own limbs (or prosthetic limbs) when signals from their brains can be extracted and interpreted. Stroke victims who have retained their consciousness yet lost the ability to speak will regain their voices when signals from their brains are routed to a computer that will synthesize speech. Normal humans will gain superhuman abilities as their brain is freed of its physical prison, allowing the brain signals that comprise human thought to be projected across a wire or even wirelessly to anywhere on earth or even beyond earth. Imagine controlling objects anywhere on earth or transmitting thoughts and images to anyone or anything simply by thinking about it.
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Many will say that BCI is in its infancy and that we are hundreds or even thousands of years from reaping its benefits, but this type of thinking ignores the reality presented by the story from Discover Magazine. Paraplegics and monkeys are already controlling prosthetic limbs and computer screens. Those who cannot speak have already been given a very rudimentary voice. The next 10 to 30 years is likely to offer advances in BCI beyond most people's wildest dreams. Look at these key quotes from the story:
The ultimate aim is not just speech but restoration of full bodily
function. If Kennedy has his way, someday the blind will see and the
paralyzed will walk—and other researchers are racing him to make those
things happen.
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