Scientists at the University of California-Berkeley have figured out a way to train a machine to “read” brain waves from an individual’s visual cortex. Researchers showed subjects thousands of photographs, then monitored brain activity. By combining the results from numerous individuals, they were able to decode the signals in the visual cortex. In a later trial, researchers were able to predict what a subject was looking at in a completely different set of photographs, using the prior information they had gathered. See the full story here.
Wow. This is one of those advances that sounds theoretically possible, but practically too unpredictable to ever work without a bunch of wires inside the brain. The scientists say it’s the first step down a road that may lead to the ability to generate pictures of memories, dreams, and–to get a little bit scarier–even intentions and fantasies. Maybe someday we’ll be able to make photographs just by picturing them, and movies with the imagination alone. So much for gaffers and studio assistants.
Memory Rendering of Tranbang Child © Vik Muniz.
