Mind-reading technology reconstructs videos from brain

[Turborama]

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Malcolm Ritter
September 23, 2011 - 10:47AM:


It sounds like science fiction: while volunteers watched movie clips, a scanner watched their brains. And from their brain activity, a computer made rough reconstructions of what they viewed.

Scientists reported that result Thursday in the US and speculated such an approach might be able to reveal dreams and hallucinations someday.

In the future, it might help stroke victims or others who have no other way to communicate, said Jack Gallant, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-author of the paper.

He believes such a technique could eventually reconstruct a dream or other made-up mental movie well enough to be recognisable. But the experiment dealt with scenes being viewed through the eyes at the time of scanning, and it's not clear how much of the approach would apply to scenes generated by the brain instead, he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/mindreading-technology-reconstructs-videos-from-brain-20110923-1ko5s.html

[DonCoquixote]

1. awesome, but

I would NOT like to see the Department of Homeland Security with this toy.

[JDPriestly]

2. +10000

I would not like to see bosses with this toy. Employees would become terribly paranoid if they believed that their boss could read their every thought. Won't happen, but anyway: Horrors!

[harmonicon]

4. I'm not so sure.

If bosses could and did read EVERY employee's thoughts, maybe - just maybe - they'd be a little more humble. "Seriously? They ALL think I'm a boob? But my ideas are great! They all think they're bad, and their ideas DO seem to be better... hmm... " We are already engaging in sci-fi fantasy here anyway.

[provis99]

3. so when do we get the Department of Thought Crime?

[harmonicon]

5. Haven't you noticed that we already have it?

It's called "Homeland Security". Change that last word to something like "Buffet" or "Cookin'" and it sounds like a place in a run-down mall, so it can't be too threatening.

[SkyDaddy7]

12. My guess is mid to late 2013 when...

Rick Perry is POTUS & the Tea Baggers hold majorities in both Houses of Congress. The Christian Right & Republicans in general hate science unless they can use it to control people.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

6. This is cool and all but, can they reconstruct brains from video?

That could be cool, if you could recreate some long gone director's mind from their films...

I only thought of this because as I first skimmed over the thread title, I thought it said 'reconstructs brain from videos'

[tcaudilllg]

7. That wouldn't be too hard.

[Dragonfli]

9. Possibly far in the future using custom made neural net AI (the hard part is mapping the specific

human brain)

[No Elephants]

8. When we hear the ever present, ever smarmy "Our thoughts and prayers are with {whomever}" from TV

TV "personalities," will we be able to verify what bs it is?

Other than that, I'd really rather this whole line of efforts to read our minds go away.

[HowHeThinks]

11. That would be helpful......

If we could have a B.S. meter to see who's lying and who's telling the truth. They'd have to build an industrial strength model to handle the GOP "debates".

[Daphne08]

10. Fascinating, but it's also a bit scary considering

what the military/corporate world could do with it.

[radhika]

13. I would not like mates, lovers and friends having it either..n/t

[HysteryDiagnosis]

14. Can the TSA be the first to try them out? n/t

[Chef Eric]

15. Reminds me of a Gilligan's Island episode.

Gilligan discovered a bush with seeds which, when eaten, made mind-reading possible.

Needless to say, it didn't work out too well for them. But I'm sure it'll work out much better in real life. Because after all, we're much smarter (and more ethical) than the millionaire, his wife, the Professor and Mary Anne...

[booksenkatz]

16. But...

it's my understanding that the brain cannot distinguish between fantasy, dreams or reality. The technology would have to be able to distinguish between these before it could be useful. What's the use in seeing images that were in someone's brain without knowing how those images got there? And if we get to that level of technological sophistication, then those images will be able to be planted there against one's will, as well. Bah, I've been watching too many of my husband's sci-fi movies lately!:P

[izquierdista]

17. Not to piss off PETA....

....but can we hook this up to my cat? I would like to watch what happens inside that bizarre feline brain.