Neuro interfaces and their potential

Perhaps the most exciting use for neuro interfaces though won't be related to any field that I've just mentioned, for surely by the time neuro interfaces are commercially available our machines will also be autonomous, and therefore not much in need of our direct control.

It is my personal belief that neuro interfaces will most dramatically prove their worth in the high tech industries where interfaces like the keyboard, mouse, joystick, or drawing board are currently used, and not satisfactorily either. I've heard it mentioned the most challenging aspect of modelling and animation is in learning to use the hardware.

Imagine an architect, an engineer, or animator being able to design by thought. Now we start to see some real potential, step forward again and musicians create music for the soul, artists translate our innermost dreams, movie producers..., well I'm sure you get the picture.

Now imagine your neuro interface could communicate two way. Your appliances don't just receive your instructions, they even acknowledge or query your instructions by thought.

Suddenly the telephone becomes redundant, email evolves into something more like a sound and motion extravaganza, video games truly start to feel like a virtual reality world.

In a world like this we would have no further need for monitors and screens, hi-fi equipment and amplifiers would seem like stone age tools compared to the richness of our own imagination. No longer would the human mind need to rely on its traditional sensory organs to make sense of the world around us.

Add satellite broadband to this mix, and a small enough transmitter to fit alongside your interface, and suddenly you become your own Internet node.

Along with predicted advancements in power generation, agriculture, medical science, computer processing power, nano-technology and many others, we might wonder could fundamental changes to our society be upon us. Could it be that an age of leisure is about to unfold ?

Many futurologists are now predicting a coming singularity, where technology will have progressed so much, and so quickly, that humanity itself will evolve beyond what we are now, some say our own generation could become the progenitors of a new transhuman species, part human and part something we can't even imagine.

If this event is to occur it seems neuro interfaces, followed by direct manipulation of the brain tissue, would be a necessary first step.

I'll let you ponder the implications for our economies, political systems, and social models. In doing so, ask how you see yourself fitting into such a world. Will you be an enthusiastic participant? If you don't feel you have enough information to make such a decision, bookmark this site, you'll want to read my next posts about humanity and its evolution.