Computers can now read minds!

A team at the University of California have been developing a use for magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to analyse brain waves of two subjects as they watched videos. They were able to link patterns of activity in the seen footage, with similar activity in the brain’s visual cortex. Apologies if this sounds like an extract from a scene in Star Trek, but there are not many derivatives for the cool term “visual cortex”!
Once this technology is developed, some exciting applications can be developed. How about, for example, a visual imager in an interview room at a police station, where suspects can be hooked up so that the interviewer can actually see what they’re thinking! This powerful technology will no doubt hit “privacy infringement” barriers from the nay-sayer brigade, but we suspect that the potential pros here will outweigh the cons.
Other possibilities would be for psychologists to envision people’s dreams in order to explore the darker recesses of their minds (for the purposes of medical assistance, naturally). Or perhaps this will be how future authors tell their stories? Surely one of the most extreme examples of the term “New Media” ever!
Imagine what IT Support companies like Nemark could do with technology like this!