Input and output is really the core part of BCI. To start off, input would probably be the easier challenge to tackle. The brain can easily send out information. We do it every day through speech, hand motions, writing, typing, etc. Finding a way to do so instantly through electronics and technology is the matter at hand. The BCI part of this actually provides the input because it is the interface between the brain and the computer. It connects the brain to the computer. It sends information from the brain to the computer.
Output on the other is a completely different story. Right now humans only have five ways of taking in information (the five senses): sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. Sending information to the brain would require either a new sense or the modification of a current one. Both of which are very daunting tasks indeed. I do not understand the exact science behind it, so I will leave that one up to the neurologists out there. My only comment on that matter is that it is way above the common person.
Overall, BCI actually is input/output. That is what it does. Sending a tweet to a computer using your brain requires some sort of input system. BCI does that for you. Checking your news feed on Facebook is a more difficult task. Maybe it could be as simple as telling your computer to pull up your news feed and look at it on your computer screen. Who knows?
Your idea can't help but get me thinking about the Singularity (perhaps you may find worthy of a wikipedia read).
ReplyDeleteWhat are some of the potential problems with BCI? To what extent will human thought become totally dependent upon technology? Is that disconcerting?
Again, do some reading about the Technical Singularity....
Obviously social media would not be the extent of BCI, which is where you bring up a good point about being dependent on technology. Another simply use of BCI would be to search for answers to a question online. For example, I could have looked up "singularity" through BCI and spewed out whatever Wikipedia says on the subject, which means I would not actually learn anything. The whole educational institution would go straight down the drain. A bit scary, eh?
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