Dreams may no longer be secret with Japan computer screen

December 11, 2008
Japanese student demonstrates walking in a virtual world

Japanese student demonstrates walking in a virtual world, on a flat screen monitor, with the character controled by his brain waves, in Yokohama, in 2007. A Japanese research team has advanced even further by creating a technology that could eventually display on a computer screen what people have on their minds, such as dreams.

A Japanese research team has revealed it had created a technology that could eventually display on a computer screen what people have on their minds, such as dreams.



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schultz911
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 1.9 / 5 (8)
Well, well....say hello to virtual wet dream movies :P LOL
Amanullah
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 2.2 / 5 (5)
more like great horror flicks
ScottyB
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 2.3 / 5 (3)
Awesome!!! it will be like the dream recorder in Red dwarf! i wonder fi they will be able to reverse teh process and put images in to some ones visual cortex creating the most realistic VR imaginable?
Crucialitis
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 2.6 / 5 (5)
User-generated content will explode soon enough with this discovery.
Stavros
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 4.3 / 5 (11)
This is a horrible development for the sanctity of marriage...just imagine all the arguing that will come when "she" reviews "his" dreams...
Edward3
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 3.1 / 5 (7)
Oh shit !!!
EvgenijM
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 4 / 5 (6)
Awesome! Can't wait when it will read dreams and thoughts with good accuracy.
AlexC
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 3.9 / 5 (7)
I think we're all getting ahead of ourselves here.

One would assume there would be a huge leap from crude images to full-color, high-def dream movies. I don't think we have to worry about our inner-most secrets being revealed any time soon.

I remember 20 years ago, when virtual-reality was supposed to be right around the corner. It's just now approaching what the experts were touting back then.
ShadowRam
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 4.1 / 5 (9)
This is extremely far off still... shouldn't even be news really...
SmartK8
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
Hope they'll include the sounds as well. Not another silent movie era.
nano999
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 1 / 5 (5)
stupid
D666
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 5 / 5 (4)
True VR isn't that far away. You need 1) a way to detect what the brain is trying to do (already exists), 2) a way to impose signals on specific neurons (already exists), and a way to stimulate the part of the brain that cuts off voluntary movement during REM (that unfortunately is a deep structure, so we're not there yet). There's no real basic science left to develop -- it's jus engineering. Since the technology would be very valuable to the two main drivers of information technology -- gaming and porn -- I expect it to be perfected by a week next monday. :-)
gwargh
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 4.7 / 5 (3)
@D666
not only that, however. The most complex part of VR is not capturing or sending signals, it's finding out what the signals mean and being able to mimic them. So VR is still far off, unless someone starts linking specific pathways in the brain to specific senses (an image of a bird, most likely, should have a completely different signal form that of a plane). It's these little nuance that really make all the difference. And with current research into the field, I'd be surprised if we have 8-bit games in our heads in a decade.
mauinut
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
if they have the ability to "decode"
would they not then have the ability to "encode"
just one more way to program more idiots!~
OregonWind
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 4.7 / 5 (3)
Actually I would imagine that this may help psychologists or psychiatrists to treat people with sleep disorders or other sicknesses, if they learn how to interpret effectively the dreams using this technology.

Also, it would be interesting to see how that would help the doctors to interpret the mind of a autistic person.

MGraser
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 4.5 / 5 (4)
The exciting part here is capturing and decoding signals to the brain. There are so many questions - does everyone send the same signals for the same visual input (or within a % of variation), or is everyone unique in their signaling? Is there a pattern/order in which information is sent (distance, size, texture, color, etc.)? Does signaling relate to how the particular brain is constructed? How to distinguish between the various signals received - this part of the signal means this, while that part means that? When we only think of items, are they signaled the same as when we see them?

Lots of questions still, but this sounds very exciting.
dbren
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 3.7 / 5 (3)
So, if a kid dreams that he's at school naked, and the device records it, is he guilty of child pornography?
D666
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
So, if a kid dreams that he's at school naked, and the device records it, is he guilty of child pornography?


Wow. Can you say "Thought Police" ?
maynard
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 4.5 / 5 (2)
This reminds me of Garret Stanley's work at Harvard and Berkeley to extract video from feline brains. See here:

http://berkeley.e...999.html
enantiomer2000
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
you all have dirty dirty minds... I have proof!
JennyM
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 3.5 / 5 (4)
Oh goodie, another tool for people to abuse.

I remember the Japanese also invented a device where the person who wore it had no control over his body, and they could remote control the person.
Under_Educated
Dec 11, 2008

Rank: 4.5 / 5 (2)
This is what I've been thinking of since i was probably 6, because I always wanted to see my dreams again once I've woke up.
Ashibayai
Dec 12, 2008

Rank: 4 / 5 (2)
I'm sorry if I disappoint but if I understand this article correctly we won't actually be able to see what anybody is dreaming. You see, what they are doing is capturing messages from the retina and decoding their neural positioning to construct the image directly from the brain. The problem is that when dreaming, we don't receive any retinal information.

However, if they succeed in tracking the higher functioning concepts of WHAT (objects) we're seeing then we will be able to tell what someone is dreaming about. Unless the visuals of a dream are constructed in exactly the same way visual information is read from sight, then "seeing" a dream would be as difficult as telling somebody a word and "seeing" what it is they picture in they're mind.

Actually seeing an approximation of what they see could be very difficult as it'd probably involve many parts of the brain, especially the parts involving visual and spatial reasoning.
gwargh
Dec 13, 2008

Rank: 4 / 5 (1)
Not quite. They do capture retinal signals, but merely to find out which parts of the brain, and what signals, signify what image. That is, the retinal part of the study is only to determine a pathway. They then use the knowledge of these pathways to try and decode thoughts in the person, and supposedly they managed to get the same letters out and spell the same word.

In a large sense, you are right, but what they are trying to do is find the higher functioning concepts of what the objects they are seeing are. The retina is merely to control what they are decoding (i.e. they know that the signal means "n" or "neuron" or whatever, versus blindly guessing at what it may mean.
poorundergrad
Dec 13, 2008

Rank: not rated yet
Interesting work! If this technology advances, I would imagine that the first group of people to take advantage of this technology is not the porn or gaming industry but the intelligence (i.e. CIA). How? Accessing people's memory of course. We can trigger and record a person's memory by "flashing" the brain with a few familiar images which activates the neural pathways/patterns associate with the images, or in another term "remember". A suspect does not have to be interrogate or question. Just hook him/her up to the machine, show a few pictures of places and/or people and record whatever the suspect "remember" of the places/people and the conversation that took place. This technology can also help people with dementia. Sounds like sci-fi? Well, not for long.
seversky
Dec 13, 2008

Rank: not rated yet
Also see this article:
"US Army Invests in 'Thought Helmet' Technology for Voiceless Communication"
http://www.physor...439.html
Adam
Dec 13, 2008

Rank: not rated yet
Hey a horrible thought occurred to me... what if bosses use it to monitor how much time you're actually working while in the office!
rrr
Dec 13, 2008

Rank: not rated yet
have you ever thought about living your dreams
it might not be as strange as it seems
traveling into a world you call your own
all by yourself yet never alone
killed ten times and you never die
when your in dreamland you wonder why
a collection of thoughts thru the night
are mass confusion in morning light
if you ever wake up without your head
roll back over because you are dead

http://www.youtub...IHbFQAzU&feature=channel_page

goldieshouse.piczo.com
scrappy
Dec 15, 2008

Rank: not rated yet
I have a question, Would the signal my brain has for the letter "n" be the same as everyone else's ???? Doesn't seem like there would be that kind of uniformity among people.
denijane
Dec 15, 2008

Rank: not rated yet
Nice :) But they didn't mention how individual these signals are. Because if the word "neuron" has only 6 letters and 5 different ones, the brain can think for so many more different things. If you have to see like 5000 pictures in order for this device to work, that's little unpractical. Though, you can have it with you during your day and to have anything you see recorded on a camera. This could be a nice calibration. That device is so exciting!
Quantum_Conundrum
Dec 15, 2008

Rank: 3 / 5 (1)
"We are the Borg. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile."


Mind reading science = Mechanical zombies.
mauinut
Dec 23, 2008

Rank: not rated yet
does anyone remeber the movie "brainstorm"
recomended viewing given the subject!

Ether
Apr 07, 2009

Rank: not rated yet
It can't be true.., Send me the exact link of those Japanese researchers.. Only then its worth to believe.
Rank 4.1 /5 (130 votes)
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