Implant a Chip in Your Head

vic_1066 writes "Brain chips sound pretty Orwellian, but the tech has come a long way (Soul eating registration required) in the past few years. Not that I'll be signing up anytime soon to get my head sliced open just for kicks, but if I was massively paralyzed this would be welcome news. If you get a chance, check out Cyberkinetics Inc."

Mnemonic?

Is it possible to do some mnemonic shit with this tech?
I would really like to regain some of my toked away memory ;)

What about using this for video game play?

I have a friend who was in a near fatal auto accident several months ago (not her fault, btw). She is now paralyzed from the chest down and has only limited control of her hands. Before the accident, she was one of the best competitive video game players that I've ever had the pleasure to know. Now, almost 6 months after the accident, she can play turn-based games OK, but does not have the fine control for the fast action FP type games. It would be so wonderful if something like this could give that ability back to her.

Already have one, we all do.

Implant a Chip in Your Head

Does it act as a co-processor to the one the government puts in our heads at birth?

Don't laugh!: Using your index and middle finger feel your skull at the base where your spinal column meets your skull. Notice that little bump? Now with your middle finger pressed firmly on the bump rub it with your index finger across the bottom near your top vertebra.

Feel that hard thing move? Of course not, but I'll bet there are hundreds of geeks like you pressing two fingers against their skull at this very moment. :)

Me neither

but the tech has come a long way (Soul eating registration required) in the past few years. Not that I'll be signing up anytime soon

That's right, it's just disgraceful. I'll never ever sign up to get NY Time account...

Sadly...

People that accept these will likely believe it will turn them into Jake 2.0 [upn.com]. Sadly, it's more likely to turn them into human RFID tags [com.com].

External memory would be nice.

So far I rely on pen and paper to remember everything... I mean seriously, I have a lot of trauma in my past and the way my brain dealt with it was to just become so forgetful that I can barely remember what I did the week before.

I'd really like some safe, secure way to "back my brain up" as it were, besides filling albums with photos to job my memory.

Re:External memory would be nice.

Only problem with this is that now you dont have the memory of the experience so you wouldnt know what it was like. However you probabl;y do that the "thought pattern" in your mind that would lead you to ask this question, and thus repeat your actions. :)

Chips and trips

There's nothing new there, but, it's just so surprising that there's so little the world can offer to SciFi litterature, but so much SciFi can offer to reality.

the implantable V-chip

Now you can implant your child with the new profanity sensing V-chip. Yes, you child can grow up happy, healty, and wholesome thanks to this new technology. The V-Chip is implanted directly into your childs brain and will emit a tiny negative reinforcement whenever your child attempts to utter an obscenity, disobey, or otherwise act like a child of his or her age.

Also for adults, the Viagra-Chip, and for Politicians, the VAccountablility chip. Working with Pfiser, the Viagra-Chip, when implanted in the adult brain, will stimulate sexual desire and promote long term erections, overcoming such things as headaches, modesty, impotence and other debilitating male problems.

The Politican version will emit a tiny negative reinforcement every time a politican attempts to lie to the public, or attempts to promote or approve of a policy in which he or she will do everything possible to avoid accountability.

Coming soon, built in GPS, public registration numbers, ATM and bank account numbers, and even a full, updated copy of your credit history. Now all you need to do is wave a wand over your head to get instant loan approval!

(The U.S. Governemt endorses the GPS/ID enabled V-Chip implant, but swears to God that they will not use it to track, monitor, or otherwise ride herd on any U.S. Citizen. They really mean it. The promise! Cross their hearts and hope to die.)

Interface, Stephen Bury

Interface, by Stephen Bury (a pseudonym for Neal Stephenson) is a fun exploration of media manipulation coupled with this idea. It goes slightly over the top in assuming the resources mentioned, but in terms of showing what is possible, it's quite interesting.

It's also a very fun read.

Brain implants are very useful!

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reg free link

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/13/health/13BRAI.ht ml?ex=1082433600&en=a9a9d7096d1a147f&ei=5062&partn er=GOOGLE [nytimes.com]

spam

Until we've solved the problem of spam, I'm not getting any kind of hardware/software combination implanted anywhere in my body. (This includes penile implants. Yes, I'm talking to you Mr Spammer.)

Orwellian?

... Which of Orwell's works do we have in mind here? Down and Out in Paris and London, perhaps? Animal Farm? I can't remember brain chips anywhere in Orwell.

Perhaps it was 1984? But as I remember it, the Party had never been able to develop a technique to discover what another human being was thinking. The inside of the human mind remained untouchable; it was the last sanctuary from their totalitarianism. Hence their reliance on propaganda and torture as cruder methods of mind control...

Add that to your resume

My only real question in all of this is where is it headed?(mind the pun there) Are all of us tech geeks going to be required to be able to "jack" into the computer systems we administrate in the near future? Will programmers start designing software that allows us to see the layout of our network graphicly in our heads as we sit semi-concious in chairs? Maybe not, but it is a possibilty.

My curiousity is when will this sort of thing become competitve enough that it will start to be asked for on job applications? When will it get to the point that it is no longer an option but a requirement in order to administer large networks?

This sort of thing is straight out of movies, like Johny Mnemonic even from role playing games like Shadowrun.

If this sort of thing comes to fruition would you have a chip installed in your head?

I know I would.

But I don't know many others that would comprimise their bodies for a career. Would you?

Now I'm interested in one thing...

How many GBs of porn can it store? >:D

Bluetooth in your brain - psycho spam!

Wait until people get bluetooth type radio chips in their head for the purpose of telepathy, then the spammers will be sending messages straight to your brain!

The voices in my head told me to get a bigger penis!

Brings a new meaning

to the phrase "Having a chip on your shoulder".

Slight downside (and opportunity)

If you think keeping a fresh ear lobe piercing clean is tough, imagine keeping a skull piercing clean.

...the signals from the chip are carried out of the body by wires coming through the skull. When the system is to be used, a cable will be connected to the wires. ... The opening in the skin is permanent and poses a risk of infection...

Infections were rare and treatable, Dr. Mukand said, and the incidence should be even lower in people, who understand the risk...One uncertainty is whether the implants will move around over time or cause scarring. Either could lead to loss of the neuron signal.

Of course, I wonder if someone is working on a socket to which bone and skin will graft. If you can get tissue to seal around the housing for the wires, it would make it even easier for people with the implant to live normally.

Trails in 2004!

They hope to start trials in 2004 and you can sign up at [e-mail]. Unfortunately, the software runs only on Windows, so you would run the risk of your brain getting hacked.

v-chip

I know a dude named Cartman that they already did this to. it is completely safe, just don't cuss at fluffy kitty.

Soul eating registration required

If you are concerned about the NYT's registration then why did you cite their version of the story? You people do realize that NYT and TWP just base their science stories on press releases right? I assure you that there is not a single person at NYT who has a degree in neuroscience, and I doubt there are many more than a half-dozen who even have BSes.

Why therefore do people submit science stories with a link to NYT when they could just link to the source material? This is the frigging internet. You can do just as much research as the press-release-editing typewriter monkey at NYT can.

For instance, the facts in this story were reported six months ago [sciencedaily.com] on ScienceDaily [sciencedaily.com] , three months ago on Wired [wired.com] and dozens of other places that could be found in 20-30 seconds on googlage.

In summary, if you don't like NYT's registration, don't link to it. You are advertising for them.
</rant>

Carpal tunnel be gone!

How many words per minute could I type if I didn't actually have to move my fingers?

To say nothing of having an imbeded PDA in my head reminding me of appointments I'm missing.

What I *really* want is image recognition tied into my vision so I can instantly remember the name anyone I've ever seen before.

Welcome to the shadows, chummer

Forget datajacks; I want cybereyes, a smartlink, bone lacing, and wired reflexes. I'll be the baddest street sam in Seattle. No, really. CP 2020 and Shadowrun are starting to look less and less like games.

If the US Department of Defense incorporates and starts handing out business cards, or kids start getting born with pointy ears, I'm moving to New Zealand.

-Carolyn

Holding out

I'm still waiting for my Google implant.

Then I'll kick some serious butt on Jeopardy.

Not again...

"Brain chips sound pretty Orwellian"

Such phrasing is apparently all it takes to get something like this into /. Is there some reason the science can't stand on its own and requires fearmongering to make it worthy?

"First clinical trials planned for 2004."

They don't even know if it'll work. And if it does, these things are no more Orwellian than a joystick. RTFA and then act like you did, and stop submitting/releasing ScienceFUD. If you need a fix of Brain Eating Monsters, go turn on SciFi Channel or something.