beeseven 0 Report post Posted November 5, 2005 http://phys.org/news/2005-11-ma.html A chip inserted into a patient's brain can allow him or her to control a robotic arm just by thinking. This has enormous implications, seeing as the first test patient is a paralytic, but he has been able to draw and use a computer with this arm. It works by reading the activity of neurons then sending the data to a computer. Some scientists believe that this will lead to an era where all we will have to do is think to accomplish most tasks-including communication. I for one think that this will just make the obesity problem in the U.S. worse, unless they make it so we can just think to excercise. (Sorry if it seems copied, it's my own summary. It just sounds really formal because I've been writing a formal scientific essay for school and I'm still in that mindset.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Plenoptic 0 Report post Posted November 5, 2005 That's amazing. lol The world is going to be very very lazy when that comes out. No one will have to do anything. That is quite an accomplishment. To bad I can't use it today. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cerebral Stasis 0 Report post Posted November 5, 2005 Technically, one does think to exercise; the muscles are just responding to what your brain tells them to do. Even if you wouldn't have to think about your actions in order to get your muscles to perform a certain function, you would still feel the physical strain of the exercise.This "cybernetic" interface chip is an excellent step forward for the impaired, but one must consider the options for misuse, such as someone making themselves into an "indestructable machine", kind of like a RoboCop of sorts. There are, of course, limits to mechanical limbs. In the movies, when someone has a mechanical limb (arm, in this case), they can easily pick up gigantic and heavy objects and fling them as if they were nothing. One must keep in mind that the mechanical arm would still be supported by one's natural bone and muscle structure, so if one tried to pick up something too heavy, chances are they would break a shoulder or shatter their spine. Lugging around a heavy mechanical limb could also have eventual side-effects on the structural system, such as bones becoming shorter due to the extra weight on them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beeseven 0 Report post Posted November 6, 2005 Even if the mechanical arm wasn't based on the person's own bone structure, such as if it were something separate that was carried around, there would be a limit to the strength of the arm anyway. Science hasn't created an indestructable metal or a single joint capable of lifting an airplane... yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tdktank59 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Even if the mechanical arm wasn't based on the person's own bone structure, such as if it were something separate that was carried around, there would be a limit to the strength of the arm anyway. Science hasn't created an indestructable metal or a single joint capable of lifting an airplane... yet. 202170[/snapback] lol very true... this is awsome technology... but at what cost must we start turning our brain into a remote for anything... Why dont we just get up off our lazy asses and do it our selves... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
s243a 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 lol very true... this is awsome technology... but at what cost must we start turning our brain into a remote for anything... Why dont we just get up off our lazy asses and do it our selves... 202181[/snapback] People talk about how this could discourage people from exercise. However, with cybernetics that are advanced enough you could work on a computer just by thinking about it, you could do work while say running on a tread mill, going for a bike ride or doing the dishes. Anything that could make me as an individual more productive I say is a big plus. If I could get my school work done say while going on a hike though nature that would be awesome. and it would make school a much more enjoyable experience. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FLaKes 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Wow, this is great technology. I dont see myself as ever using it to be a lazy person, but instead Im already thinking of a bunch of things I could do with it. Multitasking, like doing many things at the same time. It would probably be hard at the beginning but once you get the hang of it you will be able to do awesome things with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
believer 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 now they are starting to mount chips into humans, though I don't disagree on this for it will certainly help those persons in need of such thing as this, I am afraid time will come everyone will have a chip on their body that will turn us all into a humanoid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Unregistered 015 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 I am afraid time will come everyone will have a chip on their body that will turn us all into a humanoidAren't we now? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cerebral Stasis 0 Report post Posted November 7, 2005 Even if the mechanical arm wasn't based on the person's own bone structure, such as if it were something separate that was carried around, there would be a limit to the strength of the arm anyway. Science hasn't created an indestructable metal or a single joint capable of lifting an airplane... yet.I don't see how the arm wouldn't be connected to the person's bone structure, unless it had a support structure complete wheels (which would be outrageously inefficient, since one would never be able to go anywhere, since with the combined width of the person and the arm/chassis, you could never get through doors or into elevators, and the weight would be far too great to actually lift the arm to take it anywhere on your own). And it's true that there's no such thing as a metal that neither breaks nor bends, but, in the case of cast iron and hydraulics, it can sure lift a heck of a lot more than any human could (which is, I'm assuming, how any arm that is expected to life moderate to heavy weights would work; a small electric motor just wouldn't do for everything).Concerning the airplane lifting, I suppose it depends on the size of the airplane; I'm sure that some cranes and/or hydraulic lifts can raise an airplane; perhaps even some kinds of hydraulic construction arms, once again depending on the size of the arm/hydraulic pump, the pressure applied, and the size of the airplane. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
believer 0 Report post Posted November 8, 2005 Aren't we now? 202264[/snapback] I'm not sure about you mate but me I am certainly not one.....yet LOL Humanoid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
s243a 0 Report post Posted November 8, 2005 I'm not sure about you mate but me I am certainly not one.....yet LOL Humanoid 202561[/snapback] I believe it was Leonardo Da Vinci that said technology is an extension of the hand (At least that is what he said on the Startreck holadec lol). So by that logic we have been part technology since man first started using tools. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cerebral Stasis 0 Report post Posted November 8, 2005 I think a more accurate term would be that technology has been part of us since man first started using tools.And man is hardly exclusive to using tools; many primates, as well as some other animals, can as well (for example, chimpanzees fish out ants/termites with sticks), although non seem to have the mental capacity or imagination to use tools for anything but to directly acquire sustinance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quakesand 0 Report post Posted January 13, 2007 Who says this would discourage us to exercise?These new technologies does exercises our brains.and what about our physical body?Do you really think we will sit on a wheel chair or a mind-controlled machine all day long?Do you think we never walk again and never miss the relaxation of exercise?Do you really think kids will stop playing who will run faster, or can you chase me....and throw down all physical body/sport competitions such as basket ball?No we won't... things still happen, we have machines but we still work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Warrockers_Of_America 0 Report post Posted January 31, 2007 http://www.lce.hut.fi/research/css/bci/ Look at thiss.. Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) enable motor disabled and healthy persons to operate electrical devices and computers directly with their brain activity. BCI recognizes and classifies different brain activation patterns associated with real movements and movement attempts made by tetraiplegic persons. One of their aims is to examine whether subjects with no previous experience of BCIs could achieve satisfactory performance after a short training period. The picture demonstrates a BCI in use. The user has a EEG cap on. By thinking about left and right hand movement the user controls the virtual keyboard with her brain activity. It would be important to understand the signals used in BCI applications. They have concentrated on motor cortex activity. Like most other BCI groups, they measure the electric activity of the brain using electroencephalography (EEG). They have also examined the feasibility of magnetoencephalography, MEG (see this picture), for BCI use. Subject is being prepared for MEG experiment. EEG is also recorded. Feedback plays an important role when learning to use a BCI. In BCI training, the most commonly used feedback modality is visual feedback. Visual attention, however, might be needed for application control: to drive a wheelchair, to observe the environment, etc. It would be important to also test other feedback modalities. They have started to do tests with haptic feedback. An experiment where the subject receives tactile stimuli to the lower neck while learning to control a robot wheelchair in a simulated environment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
