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from the Louis-Wu-would-like-a-word-with-you dept.
"What I think is so interesting is that the future is always flying cars," Leuthardt says, handing the resident his Sharpie and picking up a scalpel. "They captured the dystopian component: they talk about biology, the replicants. But they missed big chunks of the future. Where were the neural prosthetics?"
It's a topic that Leuthardt, a 44-year-old scientist and brain surgeon, has spent a lot of time imagining. In addition to his duties as a neurosurgeon at Washington University in St. Louis, he has published two novels and written an award-winning play aimed at "preparing society for the changes ahead." In his first novel, a techno-thriller called RedDevil 4, 90 percent of human beings have elected to get computer hardware implanted directly into their brains. This allows a seamless connection between people and computers, and a wide array of sensory experiences without leaving home. Leuthardt believes that in the next several decades such implants will be like plastic surgery or tattoos, undertaken with hardly a second thought.
The article reports Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are working on neural implants as well.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by tftp on Friday December 01 2017, @11:21PM (5 children)
Human-machine interface is too limited with two hands and, possibly, two feet for coarse control. People already think much faster than they type. Two eyes, focusing on a 5° of a sphere. Terribly slow propagation of signals. Control implants of this type will allow seriously disabled people to function properly. They also allow humans to operate complex machines where now a whole crew is needed to push thousands of buttons. Even driving a car would be much safer when you have instant 360° view.
A more advanced interface will allow connection to all senses, thus providing virtual reality with full immersion. This will be essential in many areas, and the games would be not among the most important. In a way, VR could be a first approximation of immortality, first by keeping the brain alive longer than the rest of the body, then by transferring the mind into the computer. Many humans, I think, will gladly accept the offer - especially when they get older.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 01 2017, @11:31PM
No we need the ability to do billions of calculations per second in our heads allowing superhuman feats.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday December 02 2017, @10:09AM (2 children)
Would you really want to live in a virtual reality that is in full control of someone else, down to the physical laws?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 1) by tftp on Sunday December 03 2017, @12:22AM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday December 03 2017, @08:00AM
Not even close.
I certainly do. And you do, too, you just don't recognize it.
They do, too, but they are limited by the physical possibilities. There's a reason why mass surveillance is only possible since we've invented modern means of computation and communication.
You think you are protected by the human-made laws? Those laws only protect you as far as a violation of them can be detected. With total control of the physical laws, you can do the most horrid things without leaving the slightest trace of evidence.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 02 2017, @11:11AM
If you think this is about man controlling the machine, you're really naive.