Extrasensory perception (ESP) and mind reading has been a staple of fiction for generations. Television shows such as Babylon 5 featured a PSI Corps; a government sponsored organization that employed mind readers to help keep the Earth Alliance safe. What Women Want is a cinematic comedy in which Mel Gibson plays a man who acquires the ability to read the minds of women.
Mind reading has always been a figment of fiction. However, advances in technology may be changing that.
In December, 2011, Mashable conducted an interview with IBM Senior Inventor Kevin Brown. He said IBM’s vision for mind reading is this: a person wears a headset that can detect general electrical signals from the brain and sends them to a computer. Sophisticated software interprets those signals and, in turn, tells a machine what to do.
“One of the common misconceptions is that the headset is reading your thoughts,” says Brown. “It’s not. It’s just reading a level of excitement. It’s not understanding.”
Forbes reports that a group of researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, Oxford University and the University of Geneva presented a paper on this very topic on August 8, 2012 at the Usenix security conference in Seattle. Their presentation hinted at the darker side of a future where brain sensors are used to let thoughts manipulate computers. The researchers found they were able to extract hints directly from the electrical signals of the test subjects’ brains that partially revealed private information.
The ACLU has some issues regarding the possible use of this technology. They are concerned that private employers might attempt to use the technology as a lie detector in violation of Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988.
The whole thing seems a little MinorityReport-ish. I think there’s the potential for abuse of mind reading technology by well-meaning individuals. On the other hand, the use of the brain’s electrical impulses to manipulate electronic devices could be a boon for the physically handicapped.
What do you think? Would you use a hands free device that’s controlled by the electrical activity in your brain?
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