It sounds like the ultimate in chilling Big Brother technology: scientists in Japan are close to developing a computer that can read your mind. Researchers at Fujitsu, Japan’s largest personal computer manufacturer are training a Computer to pick up specific patterns of thoughts in the brain.
It means computers could be operated without tapping at a keyboard or even speaking a word. The secret is what the researchers call “silent speech”. Simply thinking a word such as “yes” or “no” generates a distinctive pattern of brain waves that the Fujitsu team has detected with stick-on electrodes, says The Sunday Times, London.
They are developing a supersensitive device called Squid (Superconducting Quantam Interference Device) contained in a space age helmet, which can pick up the “silent speech” by remote control.
There are many beneficial effects of this advance: the Japanese project could form the basis for research into medical disorders, say British doctors, as it promises to lead to a greater understanding of the workings of the brain, it could lead to early diagnosis and eventual cures for such mental disorders as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Squid based computers would be of particular benefit to handicapped people who cannot move or speak, such as Stephen Hawking, the Cambridge professor of physics who, due to motor neutron disease, is confined to a wheelchair and unable to move or talk, A Squid computer would allow him to communicate far more easily than at present.
In military use, fighter pilots may be able to direct and fire missiles faster, gaining critical microseconds over their opponents. In psychological research, Squids might detect if a person is inclined towards criminal behavior because mental imbalance leaves a characteristic pattern of brain waves.
So now Big Brother not only is watching: he is reading your thoughts!.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 9, 1993
