December 11, 2008

Time to buy a tin foil hat?

This is unbelievable! Scientists have announced that they have been able to view images from the fMRI of a person's brain. While it may not be time for a tin-foil hat just yet, we need to reminds ourselves of just how quickly technology improves over time. One scientist stated that soon he'd likely be able to see the images in color. I can just imagine the possibilities for something like this; of course, not all of them necessarily welcome. But can you imagine that we'd be able to communicate easily with autistic people? Hook this technology up to a blackboard, and Stephen Hawking could give visualized briefings just by imagining what he's thinking about. The possibilities of analyzing how dreams work, being able to communicate with people who don't have the ability to express themselves... eventually even high definition criminal facial recognition... It is news items like this that make me realize just how COOL technology can be. Of course, this'll make a hell of a lie detector, torture device, etc.... but at least for now you'll need to consent to an fMRI and we can't do those remotely (yet).

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