NationStates Jolt Archive

well, more specifically, interfaces of the future.

i saw this video (http://www.bassictech.com/blogs/bassictech_news_blog/archive/2007/01/20/remapping-the-universe-using-this-gui.aspx) and it got me thinking... what do you think will be the way we use our computers in the coming years? will we be using our hands like the video, our eyes or even our brains to control the computer? or do you think the keyboard and mouse combo are here to stay? will computers even stay as the confined boxes they are today, or will homes have a central computer accessed by unlimited numbers of wireless touchpad devices? or something completely different...?

Well, really depends on your definition of computer.

Cyborgs ftw!

well, more specifically, interfaces of the future.

i saw this video (http://www.bassictech.com/blogs/bassictech_news_blog/archive/2007/01/20/remapping-the-universe-using-this-gui.aspx) and it got me thinking... what do you think will be the way we use our computers in the coming years? will we be using our hands like the video, our eyes or even our brains to control the computer? or do you think the keyboard and mouse combo are here to stay? will computers even stay as the confined boxes they are today, or will homes have a central computer accessed by unlimited numbers of wireless touchpad devices? or something completely different...?

I fell in love with that screen at first sight. It just looks so... intuitive. I remember reading a review of it that said that using it gave you the eerie feeling of directly touching pure data (images, documents, video, etc.). Sounds cool...

It doesn't matter what the computers of the future will be. They will eventually be destroyed.

"Computer engineering today is a race between programmers and engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof computers, and the Universe striving to build bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."
-Rich Cook

Primitive, experimental systems for controlling a computer directly using your brain have already been developed. A few disabled people are using them. Eventually, such systems will improve, and at some point, probably become a viable alternative.

The way we interface with computers at present is ridiculously ineffective. Many things I'd probably be able to do a hundred times faster with a sophisticated enough direct interface to my brain. It would also open vast, new possibilities for presenting information, as you'd be able to take advantage of all senses. Not only that, but the way the brain works and interprets information, you'd be able to present information in new ways. Experiments have been made where external signals sent to the brain have eventually (once the brain worked out a way of interpreting them) resulted in a "new" sense being felt in response to them.

Well, I plan to eventually merge my mind with one in the distant future. First, of course, would be upgrading the rest of me to include more and more computerized parts until I'm a cyborg with a human brain, and then once the technology is feasible I'd begin the process of mind uploading.

Given the progress in recent years, I wouldn't doubt it being realized in the fairly near future. The rate of advancement in these fields is absolutely staggering, and it's getting faster and faster because of the feedback loop in technological innovation.

I wonder what porno will be like with these new computers?

;)

I wonder what porno will be like with these new computers?

;)

One word: Interactive.

:eek:

THAT's AWESOME! How much is it? Imagine games played on that...

I wonder what porno will be like with these new computers?

;)

just imagine the smell of goatse

:(

That was sweet, I wonder what it will do for pc games.

just imagine the smell of goatse

:(
ROFLMAO!

ROFLMAO!

Oh God, imagine an interactive /b/...

Well, I plan to eventually merge my mind with one in the distant future. First, of course, would be upgrading the rest of me to include more and more computerized parts until I'm a cyborg with a human brain, and then once the technology is feasible I'd begin the process of mind uploading.

Given the progress in recent years, I wouldn't doubt it being realized in the fairly near future. The rate of advancement in these fields is absolutely staggering, and it's getting faster and faster because of the feedback loop in technological innovation.Sounds cool. Makes me think of Ghost in a Shell.

Sounds cool. Makes me think of Ghost in a Shell.

Oh yeah, it'll be cool. And given the kinds of advances these days, I imagine it might be completely possible before I hit 40.

Oh yeah, it'll be cool. And given the kinds of advances these days, I imagine it might be completely possible before I hit 40.

GitS is set around 2030 isn't it? Maybe they were partially right about parts of the future. Not completely. But maybe it won't be a 1984-level wrong either.

Oh yeah, it'll be cool. And given the kinds of advances these days, I imagine it might be completely possible before I hit 40.
The thing I am worried about is you whole brain thing. Among my major concerns is (correct me if I'm wrong), the brain uses base 4, while computers use base 2. Easy to convert, but will the brain be able to safely make the transition? It would eventually, but it may "lock up" a time or two in the transition. As it may be possible that that would no longer mean death, how the hell are we to figure that out. Our computers may be up for it, but would our psychologist be able to figure it out.

However, imagine what you could accomplish with you brain running on a computer like that. You could solve floating point multiplication, or multi-variable linear systems in nanoseconds. I mean fuck, what would this do to our rate of advancement if successful?

But maybe it won't be a 1984-level wrong either.
1984 isn’t supposed to be a prediction.
Oh yeah, it'll be cool. And given the kinds of advances these days, I imagine it might be completely possible before I hit 40.
You really do live in a fantasy world, don’t you?

The thing I am worried about is you whole brain thing. Among my major concerns is (correct me if I'm wrong), the brain uses base 4, while computers use base 2. Easy to convert, but will the brain be able to safely make the transition?

Ehm, the computer can make the conversion - at the moment, we enter our numbers with base 10, which is much harder to convert. But even the Z3 from 1945 could convert from base 10 to base 2 and back...

Ehm, the computer can make the conversion - at the moment, we enter our numbers with base 10, which is much harder to convert. But even the Z3 from 1945 could convert from base 10 to base 2 and back...
But then you would have to have to run your brain atop of some kernel. Besides the performance loss, it would make our brains hackable. All you need is a worm to cause your brain to reboot every five minutes.

1984 isn’t supposed to be a prediction.

I never said that, regardless of whether it was intentional or not, it was wrong.

To create a human-computer interface, it will take not only a lot of psychology knowledge, but also a lot of neurology knowledge and computer one. Right now, what we really lack is basic neurology knowledge. Besides that, we will need a basic and functional psychology model, which right now, doesnt exist.

Computers and brains work in completely diferent ways. What we will need is an emulator, something that can change the information and adapt it to a diferent system. The ways things are, it will be much easier to adapt computers to us, not the other way around. Mind that it will be very hard, and I dont see it hapening in the next years.

About computers, I see them becoming even smaller, more interactive and functional. Yet, it will probabily take more time for that to hapen than it would be possible. To this day, we still use the QWERT keyboard, which was made for typewriters, where their objective was to take all important letters to the left hand so people wouldnt type too fast and jam the machine.

So, even nowadays, where computers can process so much information, we still use the QWERT keyboard, which is extremely ineficient and stupid.

So, even nowadays, where computers can process so much information, we still use the QWERT keyboard, which is extremely ineficient and stupid.

*looks at the Imperial system*

But then you would have to have to run your brain atop of some kernel. Besides the performance loss, it would make our brains hackable. All you need is a worm to cause your brain to reboot every five minutes.

Well, the brain is already hackable, it's very impressionable. I don't think it would reset like that because it's also very flexible, unlike a computer that can't take much damage before shutting down completely.

There have been very good results in connecting brains to computers to control prosthetic members or even extra members, the brain even grows the neural pathways necessary to control the remote member as if it was a natural extension. They even connected a culture of brain cells to a flight simulator and it learned how to fly straight and level in all weather conditions.

So, very amazing stuff, and some of it will be hitting the market soon, specially to repair nerve damage or replace legs and arms.

*looks at the Imperial system*

*blames Britain*

You really do live in a fantasy world, don’t you?

No more than the delusional myth that our society cannot thrive without fossil fuels. I'd rather be on the optimists' side and be correct than live in the fantasy world of wishful apocalyptic thinking.

*blames Britain*

*blames Rome*

http://www.edgelink.com/blog/Future%20Computer.jpg
I want one of those!

http://www.edgelink.com/blog/Future%20Computer.jpg
I want one of those!

lmao!! :p

well, more specifically, interfaces of the future.

i saw this video (http://www.bassictech.com/blogs/bassictech_news_blog/archive/2007/01/20/remapping-the-universe-using-this-gui.aspx) and it got me thinking... what do you think will be the way we use our computers in the coming years? will we be using our hands like the video, our eyes or even our brains to control the computer? or do you think the keyboard and mouse combo are here to stay? will computers even stay as the confined boxes they are today, or will homes have a central computer accessed by unlimited numbers of wireless touchpad devices? or something completely different...?

If I controlled my computer with my brain, how would I keep it away from porn sites? :(

If I controlled my computer with my brain, how would I keep it away from porn sites? :(

Why would you keep it away from porn sites?

But then you would have to have to run your brain atop of some kernel. Besides the performance loss, it would make our brains hackable. All you need is a worm to cause your brain to reboot every five minutes.

Oh, my brain reboots all the time already. It's a strange experience really.

No more than the delusional myth that our society cannot thrive without fossil fuels. I'd rather be on the optimists' side and be correct than live in the fantasy world of wishful apocalyptic thinking.

My thinking is neither wishful nor apocalyptic. I would really like to believe that the world can keep its present course without fossil fuels, but it just can’t, but I also don’t believe it will be the downfall of our society, just the beginning of an era of much slower technological advancement.

I fell in love with that screen at first sight. It just looks so... intuitive. I remember reading a review of it that said that using it gave you the eerie feeling of directly touching pure data (images, documents, video, etc.). Sounds cool...

It sounds amazing. That guy WILL become rich.

Well, the brain is already hackable, it's very impressionable. I don't think it would reset like that because it's also very flexible, unlike a computer that can't take much damage before shutting down completely.
But every brain has a uniqueness to it. How you hack my brain is going to be different from hacking PM's brain. Having some form of man-made soft/firm-ware running opens up the possibility of major security problems.

There have been very good results in connecting brains to computers to control prosthetic members or even extra members, the brain even grows the neural pathways necessary to control the remote member as if it was a natural extension. They even connected a culture of brain cells to a flight simulator and it learned how to fly straight and level in all weather conditions.
That is what I think is going to be key. The main question is, how do we get it to leave the flesh brain completely and work only from the hardware? It can do it, but how would we have to catalyze that change?

No matter how advanced computers get, I fully expect to see this on computer screens until the day I die. (http://www.mindspring.com/~majik/errors/script_error.gif)

No matter how advanced computers get, I fully expect to see this on computer screens until the day I die. (http://www.mindspring.com/~majik/errors/script_error.gif)

The evil is strong here.

To the porn thing, I imagine there would be controls, where you specifically think "NO PORN" and it sets up a block, preventing minor thoughts from having an effect like that. When you want it put back, a strong "OFF PORN FILTER" thought would turn it off, allowing it once again. And the filters could be for multiple things, even customisable, as we all know how the mind wanders.


I'm expecting the book "Friday" by, wow, I forgot the name of the guy in my signature. To become a realism before computer+human combinations. As in, LivingArtifacts, and whatever Friday was.

But every brain has a uniqueness to it. How you hack my brain is going to be different from hacking PM's brain. Having some form of man-made soft/firm-ware running opens up the possibility of major security problems.

That is what I think is going to be key. The main question is, how do we get it to leave the flesh brain completely and work only from the hardware? It can do it, but how would we have to catalyze that change?

Personally, I feel we should work to improve the brain itself rather than necessarily focus on interfacing it directly with a machine.

If it were possible to replace the brain's biological neurons and synapses with artificial ones, you could simultaneously enhance its functioning, prevent or reverse memory loss and other problems due to age, and prepare the brain for the next generation of mind-machine communication with the ultimate goal of being able to seamlessly integrate them.

It would also enable us, de novo, to design and build safeguards in to the human body against any kind of malicious uses of computer technology.

I really dont see us creating anything slighly as good as our current brain in the next 50 or 100 years. Will we be able to create something similar? Probabily. Better? I dont think so. Not in 100 years.

We barely know how it WORKS. To create something as good is even harder.

Improve the brain? That is just as hard. Anyway, hard to say, someone can come up with a model or new theory next month and ensure a efficient way to do it.

Oh, and once we create a direct way for electronics to influence our brain, there is no 100% protection. That is why I wouldnt do it. Doesnt matter anyway, Ill die before it happens.

I really dont see us creating anything slighly as good as our current brain in the next 50 or 100 years. Will we be able to create something similar? Probabily. Better? I dont think so. Not in 100 years.

In terms of raw processing power, absolutely. In terms of understanding its biological functioning, absolutely (Blue Brain and similar projects are working on that now).

But in terms of other things, like consciousness or other higher-order brain functions, that's still in the distant future, maybe 30, 50, 100 years or more. If anything, we're more likely to inadvertently create something artificially conscious than we are to understand how it works in us. The brain is many, many times more complex than any computer even of similar processing power; it's a system developed over literally billions of years of environmental and genetic programming and tested across literally millions of generations and species.

We barely know how it WORKS. To create something as good is even harder.

True.

Improve the brain? That is just as hard. Anyway, hard to say, someone can come up with a model or new theory next month and ensure a efficient way to do it.

We could improve the brain in terms of reversing brain diseases or improving memory, but I imagine more expansive concepts like enhancing cognition are still a long way's away.

We need to first nail down the neurological underpinnings of thought (to say nothing of figuring out how exactly we go about translating those biochemical signals in to thought) before we can really work to modify or enhance it.

Oh, and once we create a direct way for electronics to influence our brain, there is no 100% protection. That is why I wouldnt do it. Doesnt matter anyway, Ill die before it happens.

Actually, it's already happening in some cases; there are some basic brain implants available right now for Parkinson's disease and other ailments. They're not interfaces (rather, electrical stimulation), but they are machine parts interacting directly with the brain.

Chances are, rudimentary mind-machine communication will be available at a commercial level in the next decade and will improve significantly from there as the technology matures.