I once saw a video of an experiment in which experimenters trained a monkey to play a joystick video game. They then linked the monkey's brain to a computer and started recording the signals created while the monkey moved its arm and hands as it played. Then they matched the signals with the movements within the game. Once the matching was flawless, they sent the 'translated' brain signals direct, in real-time, from the monkey's brain to the game console.What do you think the monkey did?
a. freaked out
b. got confused
c. stopped
d. played on with arm movements
e. played on using 'thought' alone.
Well, it immediately and without any apparent concern or confusion, continued playing the game using 'mind-control' alone.
You see, once we can do things by thought alone, why would we bother making an 'effort'? All this makes me think of Wall-E and the human 'master-race' (hence the picture). Oh, and in case you thought that this is all 'pie-in-the-sky', watch this:
Honestly i don't know what to say about this video, mainly because i think it is both, good and bad.
ReplyDeleteAs an online gamer, i consider, that this is by far the greatest advance on video game technology, but if i look it from my human point of view, it really makes me think if we should use this type of tech, basically because if someone decides to start messing around with it and modifying it, it could mean a disaster.
and also, playing only with our "mind" is not as exciting as other resources such as Xbox's Kinetic, in which the whole body acts as a player, and not just your mind(involves movement).
However, i have to accept, that the day, this product is launched, it will have lots and lots of buyers(including me).
These two stories have impressed me much and made me wonder of the future of our society. I have to say technology progress frightens me more and more every day; I'm afraid some day people will actually prefer machines to people, which is starting to happen now.
ReplyDeleteIt's my bet that sooner than we think, machines will absolutely dominate our lives and it will be impossible for us to live without them. Moreover, there won't be a need for us to socialize with eachother, because what is the point? Machines will be flawless and their perfection will make us choose them over other people.
It is unlikely that these progresses will change; scientists and engineers are bound to keep on trying to discover more and more in these technological fields.
I don't like the fact that they're connecting people's brains to machines. It shocked me, and I dread it. What will our society be like if we don't have to even move to do things? Will there be any point in living if machines will just do everything for us? Will someone be able to be happy without putting effort into anything?
I would also like to point out than machines are about to be as capable as people to do things, but they won't be able to feel or have emotions, or so I thought before I saw this video. It's terrible that a machine can sense your actual emotions, because that is just a way of making them stronger towards us in a future.
This new technology and way of playing video games has definitely impressed me. Seeing the pace at which technologies are evolving i did expect new devices to appear but it never occurred to me that we would ever be able to play video games with our brain or at least not anytime soon. However, seeing the popularity that consoles tend to have, i have no doubt that if this one is released it would be very successful. Also, even though i agree that this would be a brand new and exciting way of playing i have to admit that i find it a bit of an objection to what most video game developers have recently been doing. Due to the high popularity of video games and to the increasing number of obesity in some countries, scientist have been aiming at creating consoles and games that require movement and exercise. Everyone probably remembers when the 'eye toy' was launched, when the Wii came out and now the Kinetic for xbox 360. However, if you take a look at this new device, you can see doesn't require any movement at all for which i don't really think that it would be favorable for our society. If this console is launched, i'm certain that a lot of people would buy it and that its appearance would result in a decrease of our population's activeness for which i wouldn't support its release. Plus, do we really need to play video games with our brains? Have we become sufficiently lazy that we can't even bother to move our hands? Just think about it, this wouldn't provide anything meaningful or necessary to our lives.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started to watch the video I thought this type video games would be great in the future, but then I realised they where really insane.
ReplyDeleteIf humans start to develop so much video games, children will be all the day playing videogames and they will not play sports or go walking they will end like the picture from the movie Wallie
This is really shocking, humans should stop developing so much video games because they are creating a type of children who only play games and chat with facebook or twitter.
We should invest more money in developing more medicines, to cure illness and not in videogames because this type of things will create a horrible society in which children will never go out of their houses
Jordi Ferrer Raventós
This video is both exciting and frightening. I am amazed of how technology is developing so fast and how in less time than we think there will be so many things we can do that now seem impossible. But, at the same time, what frightens me is precisely that. We can see two or three videos from Discovery Channel and be shocked, but really we are completely unaware of what these advances will mean in society.
ReplyDeleteI am scared, because humans are greedy and we will always want more and more, until machines control us. It seems very apocalyptical, but why not? If we can make humans interact with machines and make ourselves behave like machines, why not the other way around? Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me to see humanity destroying itself due to greed.
Here is the link to the trailer of the film "I, Robot", starring Will Smith, where something similar to what I'm trying to explain happens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0f3JeDVeEo
The pace at which technology is evolving is really frightening. All these things that we see in the videos seem so far away from our every day life! But clearly, as the video shows mind control is definetely the way forward.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand it's always positive and beneficial for society to progress and get on with technology, because it means the human race is able to develop alone and create more and new things. However, on the other hand, I am scared off about these developments. If minf control is bound to be the norm in the future, we will only have to think. We won't interact with the exterior world. Everyone will be able to hide behind their avatar, so where are values like braveness and selfconfidence going to go? Moreover, these days with game consoles like Kinetic or Wii we are able to do sport as we play if we want to, but now we'll be all the time sitting, playing without moving a finger. Is this good for our health? How are we going to maintain ourselves healthy if we ourselves don't have to do anything? It seems to me as our health is going to be left out and in my opinion I don't think these developments are of much sense if we are all going to die sooner because of them. We will not be able to enjoy them so there's no point in controlling everything with mind control.
In the future, technology would dominate humanity.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, new technology is advantageous because without technology, society wouldn’t be developed and also more problems would appear. For example, without any technology more people would die or suffer more infection diseases and with technology, this type of things could be easily solutioned. In addition, it could also help at the progress of society because new inventions would be beneficial towards humanity, maybe in house tasks or even in going shopping. Although this seems very effective, it would make people lazier and maybe arrive at the point that food would be prepared without doing any type of effort.
On the other hand, technology sometimes is disadvantageous because what will happen if our society would be dominated by robots and technological inventions? This would create a society without any communication at all and interaction with people would disappear. We can’t afford this because then, all humans would be on their own without doing anything in their life’s and without any expectations towards the future because maybe they would think that technology does everything and does it immediately, so in the future, technology would be everything. Another disadvantage I want to point is that if technology goes on and on, our health would increase, humans would get fatter (as the photograph shows) because they would don’t do any type of exercise because all the things would be done for them.
In conclusion, technology is favorable when it helps humanity but I think that technology and humans have to life together and co penetrate both together. Also technology is unfavorable because it can change the world and this makes humans be terrified.
Santi NG
This post is very shocking for me. It makes me think how unnecessary the technology presented at the attached video looks… In my opinion the research for development in this area should be centered in more important issues than games. Such as medicine, education, etc.
ReplyDeleteShouldn’t we solve other more important issues in this world before? There are thousands of people starving in the world, suffering unnecessary battles done by a corrupt government, etc. all this money given to create new games that look more real than the past ones, could be used to try and make this world more fair, more equal.
It breaks my heart to see how people don’t realize which are the priorities in this life. New inventions are made only because businesses want the profit and the difference of life between different countries is becoming bigger and bigger each day. Who cares that new games can be played only by thinking your moves instead of doing them? This will only create problems such as in the movie Wall-E. People will no longer live like normal and will be addicted and attached to technology and living without it could be unthinkable.
I guess it’s not in my hands to realize what is best for our societies but if I could make a difference like they can, I certainly would.
In my opinion the development that is being carried out by loads of big video game companies is becoming more and more unnecessary, nowadays we all ready have video game machines being controlled by our bodies such as Xbox 360, which has no need for a physical remote control or a joystick, which makes it easier but in my opinion loses the spirit of a video game, you sitting with a joystick to control whatever you are playing.
ReplyDeleteWith the case of the joystick becoming your mind, I think it will make the games boring and monotonous, it will be like imagining a game, with no need of movement, just of thoughts, what will be the point of the game?
If it is nothing you have to touch or touch or to feel externally, like a remote control it loses some of its essence and it could might as well be like a dream and no more a game used to have fun with, or to distract yourself, just thoughts.
Adrià Mirabet
I personally think that the information provided by the video is both interesting and earth-shattering but frightening too.
ReplyDeleteFuture generations will feel on top of the world when they realise that a machine will be able to follow their orders and even feel their emotions. But they will have to keep their feet on the ground as they will have to realise too that machines are not humans, and that they exist to help us, they can't substitute us.
Science develops at an increadibly high speed, and the society has to be aware of the last innovations if they want to be up to date.
This new discovery will mean that the machine will directly receive a signal from our minds that will order to turn left or right, without having to make the effort to do it ourselves. If this new technologies aren't taken with caution or limitations, we will finally feel that our phisical and mental capacities will be no longer required, as machines will even think for us!
And we can't let this happen. We create technology, we discover new discoveries so that they can help us, but we can't let machines substitute us.
To keep this situation controlled society has to be aware of how serious the situation is. We clearly depend of technology. An actual example of this could be that it is becoming more and more dificult to live without a computer or a mobile phone. They clearly make our lifes easier, but we have to use them with a limit, otherwise the situation will get out of control.
This innovations will help us and make our lifes easier, but what we can't do is let technology rule us.
Marta Gracia
I find this video amazing! A few years ago this sort of technology was completely impossible to make, and nowadays, experts are perfecting it in order to be able to buy it and use it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, mobile phones were in black and white, and their main use was to call and to send messages. But today mobiles phones are much more than that. It is indeed amazing and at the same time scaring, how fast we are evolving our technologies.
In my opinion, this developing technology in video games will revolutionize the way we spend our free time. We will be able to live in a second world, and create our own reality. We will in fact, play to be God.
Besides, people that are very passive and spend their whole free time playing video games will become much more active because they won't only use their hands to play.
On the other hand we should beware of how we are evolving because all these machines could control us in a very near future.
JUAN VENTOSA
It is amazing how they have invented this device that completely responds to our thoughts and feelings and movements to play in game. It is extraodinary in the way that it's much more effective and real, though it is true, are we going to stop making and effort?
ReplyDeleteImagine our society with all the people with machineson their heads seen as usual as a hat. People not speaking through words but through thoughts. Numerous consecuences can develop from this, such as not moving or loosing language. Is this what we want? At least, in my opinion I know it is not and the fact that I can imagine this situation it's completely normal, how can I not? Everything is making such a quick evolution, so quick that we literally can't keep up.
That's what's most creepy about the situation, If we don't keep up we will start loosing control, and technology will be in control, so it will control society. Society will become 'teologentrist' or something alike, we will live from it.
That's what my mind speaks about this issue, and I am really concerned about it.
From my point of view, we could see this from two different perspectives, there is no good or bad for me, because I'm a type of person who can always take out something positive about something.
ReplyDeleteMy first view is how amazing is our nearest future and how our lives will change drastically in very few years. This is a big advantage because everything will be easier for everyone.
However as I said, my other point of view is that this will affect to the society in the ways of doing things. Lazyness will be the main topic iin a few yearsand this can be very critical, but on the other hand humans have the capacity to think and to reason about anything and I think that if we are capable of doing that, we can also be capable of controlling the situation of al this machinery, technology and robotising this world.
As a conclusion, I don't think this is scaring or frightening, it is simply shoking and amazing!
MAURO BORRÀS
JACK ROBERTS
ReplyDeleteThis issue is becoming more and more apparent as humans continually show how ingenious and creative they are by creating ever more intelligent robots. The fact that humans are continually breaking barriers and defying all common conventions just proves to me how truly wonderful human beings are as we are pushing the boundaries daily and this is incredibly inspiring.
All the talk of the human race being dominated and wiped out by robots seems apocalyptical and more that a little farfetched for me. the notion that for no apparent reason machines will rise up against their owners seems like it shoud be the plot for a sci-fi movie and not something people should be wasting their lifes worrying about. What I think is likely to happen is that human ingenuity is going to continue to prevail and use robots and the like to benefit our society and advance human life to unprecedented levels.
I for one am slightly surprised at the fear and anxiousness about the future as there is no evidence from the past to suggest that humans are anything less than resourceful, competent and able to cope with whatever the world and life has to throw at them.
So, to conclude, I would like to suggest we let go of our fears and simply live life in the present knowing full well that we will cope with whatever the future holds in store for us. Personally, I am excited to form a part of an ever-changing and exciting world that has a bright and better future in store if the past and present are anything to go by.
hope I am right about this one otherwise we are in for a rough ride!