Dreams 'could be shown on computers'

I think its an amazing new technology, but I do also think the government could use this against us in one way or another... greatttttt!

Originally posted by biomehanika
Just Find this very interesting Article:

Dreams 'could be shown on computers'

A JAPANESE research team says it has created a technology that could eventually display dreams or what people have on their minds on a computer screen. Researchers at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories succeeded in processing and displaying images directly from the human brain, they said in a study unveiled ahead of publication in the US magazine Neuron. While the team for now has managed to reproduce only simple images from the brain, they said the technology could eventually be used to figure out dreams and other secrets inside people's minds. "It was the first time in the world that it was possible to visualise what people see directly from the brain activity," the private institute said. "By applying this technology, it may become possible to record and replay subjective images that people perceive like dreams." When people look at an object, the eye's retina recognises an image that is converted into electrical signals which go into the brain's visual cortex.

Absolutely amazing what the Japanese can do. Science fiction coming true.... Would like your views on this technology.

I'll be honest and say I think this is crap.

Let me begin by saying that the above part that I have bolded is what I'm bringing into question here. Looking at an object and thinking about one are compeltely different. This is why when you look at an object - even a picture on a computer screen long enough, when you look at your hand you can still see it. I can agree that this can be read by looking at the retina's mirror image, but when you dream it's not actually a real object "burning" its image onto your eye. How then can they read this ? And if they can then they're lying about picking it up from the retina - they're getting this a very different way indeed. And to be honest, that would hint at the fact that this can be done WITHOUT wires, and distance it would seem could also be moot. That is where it could get quite worrying and unsettling.



[edit on 12/11/08 by mortalengine]

"Minority Report" anyone?

Two liner

Majorion

Amazing, yes. However my first thought was of the thought police from "1984". How long would it be before the government decided to use this as a means of extracting information or as a means of prosecution.

Also at issue are the privacy concerns. Imagine the divorce rate when husbands see their wife's dreams and realize she dreaming about having sex with a co-worker or when she sees his dream and realizes her husband is dreaming about sexing up her best friend.

reply to post by rattan1


STOP CRIME!!!!!! That would cost A LOT OF JOBS AND SPENDING CUTS, WHY would we want that?

[edit on 11-12-2008 by unknown known]

I hate to squat over the OP and poop on him.. But as amazing as this sounds I think we are a LONG way away from anything close to this.

Deciphering any neurological signal is beyond science right now. In theory it's possible but we'd need immense computer processing power to be able to decipher what's going on into actual crisp images.

Maybe getting coloured swirls on a screen is more realistic. But actually getting images would be amazingly complex.

Think of all the other electical crap going through your brain at any one time besides that which is happening purley to generate the 'images' in your head.

And don't forget the images in your head arn't images in the conventional sense like on a screen - your brain isn't outputting like a TV signal - it is much more abstract.

The closes we have right now is the idea that a guy can 'will' objects on a screen to move using some transducer to determine which side of his brain has the most activity - and the only way the subject does this is by 'learning' what makes the pointer go left or right and then doing that again - it's not like the computer knows when your imagining the idea of 'left' or 'right' in your head.

I am speechless... I am not sold in any sense that this technology actually works...

...but assuming it could be mastered, would have major impacts on society as a whole. This could essentially force the issue of thought control, and if the technology is reversed...can even be used to implant false thoughts, dreams and memories.

Goodbye to the only bit of freedom we might have left!

It would litraly spell the dawn of a "Matrix"-age!!

Considering the benevolent implications of such a technology, I am afraid it will never reach the consumer market as to prevent it from landing in the wrong hands. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it already has...:

There are therefore two great problems which the Party is concerned to solve. One is how to discover, against his will, what another human being is thinking, and the other is how to kill several hundred million people in a few seconds without giving warning beforehand.

Originally posted by dAlen

I personally hope that people can finally grow past the need for patent and copyrights...they stifle growth.

I know this is off topic a bit, but ...

You have that backwards. This does not stifle growth, it encourages growth.

What would be the point of developing products if anyone could steal all of your work and market it without fear of reprisal. Don't fool yourself, you can't protect your work by just trusting people.

I've been through the experience of having an image that took me more than a weeks work to produce stolen and used by someone else for profit. What you are saying is that all that work did not entitle me to earn a living from it and that it is OK for someone else to steal it and use it to put money in their pocket.

If their were no protections, why would I even bother to do the work anymore? I would not and due to that the lack of protection would discourage creativity not encourage it. Why would I bother so that a bunch of thieves could leech off of me and my efforts.

I think the Internet has caused some to have that attitude because it makes images have no value because people can just steal their images without asking or paying the person who did all the work. Look at how flippant people are about stealing music from the artists without paying. Don't kid yourself, it is stealing and no different than breaking into someones home and stealing. Stealing is stealing and thieves are thieves. The Internet is crawling with thieves.

Imagine spending years and huge sums of money developing a product and having no way to stop people from legally stealing it from you. That is in fact what you are endorsing.

On Topic -

This is pretty scary actually. Imagine when they can do this without your knowledge. Imagine hidden sensors in doorways or entry points. This all but guarantees their will be thought police. If it can be used it can be abused.

reply to post by rattan1


why would they stop crime... it feeds the system.. without it then theirs no need for police, judges lawyers.. and most importantly laws... which then defeats the purpose of government and then you will have people wondering why do we need government for if we can govern ourselves... a no crime world is not a world the government wants.. trust me

It seems everything Tesla once theorized or at least gave a fleeting moment's thought to has in some way been given interest lately in the form of technology companies. I think it's time we take a long, hard look at all his more "alternative" ideas, because there seems to be a future in all of them. I just can't wait until the world wakes up from this fuel fantasy we have in oil and gloss over, for but two minutes, a simple patent concerning wireless transmission of free energy...

reply to post by rattan1


why would they stop crime... it feeds the system.. without it then theirs no need for police, judges lawyers.. and most importantly laws... which then defeats the purpose of government and then you will have people wondering why do we need government for if we can govern ourselves... a no crime world is not a world the government wants.. trust me

reply to post by biomehanika


Knowing that the brain does not store images in a "raw" photographic way, but we rather remember things selectively as we focus on details that matter most to us, while ignoring other parts, it would be interesting to see what a reconstruction might look like. Reminds me of the movie minority report, where there are images interleaved with blurry areas and the ordering of mental events is seemingly random. That might be what a person's dreams or mental imagery looks like to another person, who would obviously lack the contextual information that allows the first person to create the illusion that all those images are consistent and "make sense".

-arr

I dont like it.

I dont like the fact that so many people are trying to pry open the only place left that we have to ourselves. Its wrong and pervasive in my opinion, there is a reason why no one else in the world can see what im thinking or dreaming they arent supposed too!

Now i can finally enjoy those wet dreams even after i wake up lol, just thought of the idea of dream porn. I do think there is potential for this technology, however it can be used for evil purposes. I'll stick to my dream porn idea lol

total mind control. it would be used to totally enslave us.

but the good news about it is that it would ruin the hollywood

It definitely sounds amazing in writing though I have a feeling the actual output these scientists received from the brain is probably somewhat lackluster.

It is an interesting concept, though, and as someone who fails to remember their dreams 90% of the time, if eventually one had the ability to record their dreams vividly and review them while conscious it could further aid us in analyzing them and learning what exactly is happening while we sleep.

Of course the negatives to a technology like this are invasion of personal privacy, etc. but i have a feeling there wont be any mind reading computers any time soon and if there are, well, I guess we'll just have to learn how to control our thoughts a little better, no?

reply to post by paperplanes


I agree with you. At first sight this looks like a cool new sort of science but what about thoughts people don't like to share with others?

If there's nothing left to imagine or fantasy about humans will become like some sort of robots, boxed and labelled into categories.

There was a movie a few years ago but I cannot remember the name. People would record what they saw, not dreamed of.

There were other people who would make illegal copies and sell them. The main point of the movie was about a serial killer who filmed his kills. When other people viewed them it would put them in the victims place. I know it is not the same, but the downside could be the same.

On the other hand I cannot remember any of my dreams, so this could help.

reply to post by biomehanika


It'd be nice to think that a revolutionary technology would be used only for human beings to better to get to know themselves (and to help those suffering from psychological disorders), or perhaps you might hook up a DVR to the device and record even the dreams your mind usually forgets (and perhaps they can hook someone up to it and have a channel on TV called the Dream Channel). But I'm guessing that this sort of tech will likely be used to interrogate, to probe the minds of prisoners and geniuses and such for secrets hidden there, having no secrets is a frightening thought indeed...