^
www.hindustantimes.com/technology/PersonalTech-Updates/Mind-reading-machines-on-their-way-IBM/SP-Article1-784702.aspx
For all the useful things such "mind-reading" can be applied to, why is my evil mind only darting to the zillion ways in which not just the unscrupulous but also the power-greedy power-centres (like the US govt or the Indian christogovt) can and is likely to employ this? So that all of humanity can become The Next North Korea (which apparently has a new dictator now: seems Kim Jong Il or whoever kicked the bucket recently - went off to the great dictatorship in the sky or thereabouts. Time to sing 'Le Roi est mort. Vive le roi' again.)
Linking one's brain to one's devices/network does promise for some proper Cybercrime at last though, as foreshadowed in Nihon. If we can't have interstellar travel at least we can have cyberpunk plotting. Bring on the age of hacks and dives.
www.hindustantimes.com/technology/PersonalTech-Updates/Mind-reading-machines-on-their-way-IBM/SP-Article1-784702.aspx
Quote:Mind reading machines on their way: IBM
Agence France-Presse
San Francisco, December 20, 2011
[color="#800080"][image caption:][/color] Two men walk past an IBM logo in Hanover, central Germany.
Century-old technology colossus IBM on Monday depicted a near future in which machines read minds and recognize who they are dealing with.
The "IBM 5 in 5" predictions were based on societal trends and research which the New York State-based company expected to begin bearing fruit by the year 2017.
"From Houdini to Skywalker to X-Men, mind reading has merely been wishful thinking for science fiction fans for decades, but their wish may soon come true," IBM said in its annual assessment of innovations on the horizon.
"IBM scientists are among those researching how to link your brain to your devices, such as a computer or a smartphone," it continued.
IBM gave the examples of ringing someone up just by thinking it, or willing a cursor to move on a computer screen.
[color="#800080"]("Ringing someone up just by thinking it" might come in handy if you've just been kidnapped I suppose... Or in the grip of a seizure. Or about to be murdered and you're aiming for this to be an episode of Columbo where the audience is told at the start who did it. In all other cases, is it so much trouble to Just Pick Up The Phone?
And "willing a cursor to move across the screen?" Too low-level, no great efficiency gains for the average user. But very helpful for people who've lost/never had motor functions.)[/color]
Biological makeup will become the key to personal identity, with retina scans of recognition of faces or voices used to confirm who people are rather than typing in passwords, the company forecast.
"Imagine you will be able to walk up to an ATM machine to securely withdraw money by simply speaking your name or looking into a tiny sensor that can recognize the unique patterns in the retina of your eye," IBM said.
[color="#800080"](Wasn't this already there in Never Say Never Again etc? And even the baddies back then knew how to circumvent this "fail-safe" system.
It's worse than the fingerprint identification required on the older T-PCs: any villains merely need your finger. While a password is at least in your head where they couldn't get it from, they can always just *take* your finger. Or your eye.)[/color]
"Or by doing the same, you can check your account balance on your mobile phone or tablet," it continued.
Technology will also be able to produce electric power from any types of movement from walking or bicycle riding to water flowing through pipes of homes, IBM predicted.
[color="#800080"](This is admittedly *very* cool. Yes please.)[/color]
Mobile phones will narrow the digital divide between "haves and have-nots" by making information easily accessible and junk email will be eliminated by smarter filtering and masterful targeting of ads people like, according to IBM.
For all the useful things such "mind-reading" can be applied to, why is my evil mind only darting to the zillion ways in which not just the unscrupulous but also the power-greedy power-centres (like the US govt or the Indian christogovt) can and is likely to employ this? So that all of humanity can become The Next North Korea (which apparently has a new dictator now: seems Kim Jong Il or whoever kicked the bucket recently - went off to the great dictatorship in the sky or thereabouts. Time to sing 'Le Roi est mort. Vive le roi' again.)
Linking one's brain to one's devices/network does promise for some proper Cybercrime at last though, as foreshadowed in Nihon. If we can't have interstellar travel at least we can have cyberpunk plotting. Bring on the age of hacks and dives.