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Apparently,Virtual world sharpens mind-control or at least aids in rehabilitation or para or quadra plegics.

A simulated world that can be explored simply by thinking about putting one foot in front of the other might offer new rehabilitation possibilities for disabled patients.

EEG based “Walking” of a TetraPlegic in Virtual Reality

Youtube link – EEG based “Walking” of a TetraPlegic in Virtual Reality

Although, the article mentions this activity can be quite tiring.

VR does seem to have some other medical Applications. In Virtual Pain Relief, they talk about VR as a tool in treating burns victims. They display snowflakes, and cold things with soothing music, and apparently this helps. Using MRI technology, they looked at the brain during treatments to discover that sections of the brain related to pain did seem to indicate that pain was reduced.

We have found that others are Controlling Video games with the mind, as a somewhat more commercial use of this style technology. However, we still seem a long way off from proper Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) mentioned in cyberpunk fiction from 20 or even 10 years ago though.

So I wonder, will whether over the next five years we’ll see cheaper price BCI gear to allow VR and immersive environments. I am not sure whether this is purely a cost issue (as in head sets still too expensive for the average person), or not proven in their fields (e.g. in Rehabilitation or pain therapy)? Perhaps we just aren’t there yet with the EEG feedback to influence the VR environment.

Related articles:

• News: Virtual Reality is Therapy for Injuries
• “Do It Yourself” EEG

Lunch today was bladerunner-esque.

I was sitting in a Japanese Noodle and Sushi shop, reading Ray Kurzweil’s Age of Spiritual Machines. While there was no asian harp music in the background, there was a bustling ambience as people bought their salmon sushi.

The evidence is below:

Some Kurzweil notions such as a computer will have the processing power of the brain by 2020, I don’t think, necessarily translate to Artificial Intelligence. There’s a whole lot of software that has to run with that hardware.

However, I just made it through the prologue (it’s hard to eat udon noodles and read), but some of his comments/points do make sense.

• The best chess software can beat most players – years ago this was not the case
• Intelligence applications are very specific, but probably surpass most people
• Will machines think, or just calculate?
• Do people actually think, or just calculate as a response to stimuli?

Then we get into the philosophical side of what it is to be human. If you could upload someones memories into a machines would it be human?, could you tell the difference over the phone?

My Hypothesis: to be human is to have experiences and knowledge in a human body. Profound? Sorry it’s not. I think we can seriously worry about this when/if it happens. Perhaps we could describe Humans and an Artificial Intelligence both as “Intellectual entities” and get away from narcistic self bias. These concepts still seem strongly in the realms of science fiction.

“The Age of Spiritual Machines” seems like a though provoking read, and that’s my opinion just after the prologue !

Sometimes, I think it’s amazing being able to read daily bits from authors blogs (in this case William Gibson). Gibson has mentioned before that Second Life isn’t what he thought the future would be. He has linked to this amusing YouTube vid about the shortcomings of Second Life.

So, the video below is an illustration of why second life doesn’t really work like our first life.

(Youtube – Second life thingy)

When I tried Second life, I found it was not that interesting to me. I found the interface annoying and slow. In PS3 Home, Cyberspace and Second Life .. , several authors have mentioned their “is this actually useful or serving a purpose” views on Second Life and other world environments. Asking the question “Will they actually gain much traction? “

When you think about it, World of Warcraft kicks all of them, but maybe that’s because it’s a game and environment created for you. You don’t have to choose your hairstyle, tshirt, build a house, wander around trying to find another soul who isn’t in a bondage club. It seems to me that people are willing to be involved in an environment (game world) more so than building it. I guess this probably works in real life too, I imagine that more people buy an already existing house than design and build. Ditto with clothes, most people buy.

Do worlds which require environments to be built by players might have limited usefulness or lifespan?