Saturday 16 June 2012

Mind games, cyborgs or a way to control stuff

Sometimes I can be active and sometimes I can be a real lazy old git. That's why I like gadgets, just to squeeze extra micro seconds of time by using a electric thingamabob. I considered an electric tooth brush as my first gadget. Because who wants to physically scrub your mouth with a manual tooth brush.
except for the charging and the tooth paste dispensing, I'd say seconds gained on my morning ritual. Also an electric tin opener, because who wants to squeeze and twist a device to open a tin can. To ease the slight repetitive strain injury in my hands, I see these time savers can help with the limitations I have.

Bit what if we need more help then a tooth brush and a tin opener? disabled people with motor neuron disease or amputees looking to replace and arm. Things get complicated for end user to try and find a gadget to save time for his short comings.


New technology emerging from now allows Pierpaolo Petruzziello to connect to a robot hand by way of electrodes to be attached to his nervous system. The 2 million pound project, stimulated his arm to find his nerve endings and amplified back any concentrated output his amputated arm would signal. Or Tim Hemms successful brain operation to connect electrodes to neurons that controls his arms. Despite having a complete spinal injury, he eventually remapped his brain functions to allow him to control a robot hand.



Hard to say if technology is going to allow full connection of the brain as its early days but considering that there seems to an increase of war veterans and high risk of improvised explosive devices. There is even a possibility to suggest that the use of a military exoskeleton  for combat. Raytheon's sarcos xos2 exoskeleton could help save lives, because its gives its user extra strength to punch walls and lift objects too heavy for a normal person to carry. Its still early days to say a exoskeleton will be a gadget of the future,as there is still a power problem. While Iron man uses a fictitious Arch reactor, the Xos2 would probably have a battery pack which will probably run out more times then a toy electric car.



commercially specking one company has a interesting idea of using a E.E.G. monitor to control the out put of
a game or to direct you to a particular pathway in a make your own adventure film plot. E.E.G or electroencephalogram amplifies the brain out put to a frequency. Depending on a relaxed state the user can change this output to move an object. Sold as a kids toy you can buy a star wars science force trainer. This moves up and down according to how relaxed you are. Translate the same action for games and video adventure and you have Neurosky's mind wave brain scanner. As well as using one of its apps to look or Parkinson's disease, the mind probe is a unobtrusive headset like device that allows alpha waves to be a crucial part in the games control.



Its hard to guess which way emerging technology will go to create a possible future. I like to think of cyborgs exist in the future. But with great power comes great stupidity or at lease criminal cyborg activity. Brain remapping might be a possibility for robots to be controlled. Certainly not by Alpha wave control, where you have to relax to work a machine. Complex controls can't be replaced by how relaxed you are, not unless direct brain to machine remapping is involved.

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