Seems the guys over at Sony have discovered a technique to beam "sensory experiences" such as smells, sounds, feelings, and images into our brain. Just imagine the future of video games! Better yet, amagine the uses it could have in hospitals.

You could help the blind see, the deff hear, and possibly make a device capable of helping a wounded person overcome the pain he is in by changing the feeling of pain or completely stoping it. We'd need no more pain killers in the hospital, this would drasticly effect all companys who produce drugs to aid people in pain.


Quote from CNN:

The technique could one day be used to create video games in which you can smell, taste, and touch, or to help people who are blind or deaf.

The U.S. patent, granted to Sony researcher Thomas Dawson, describes a technique for aiming ultrasonic pulses at specific areas of the brain to induce "sensory experiences" such as smells, sounds and images.

"The pulsed ultrasonic signal alters the neural timing in the cortex," the patent states. "No invasive surgery is needed to assist a person, such as a blind person, to view live and/or recorded images or hear sounds."

According to New Scientist magazine, the first to report on the patent, Sony's technique could be an improvement over an existing non-surgical method known as transcranial magnetic stimulation. This activates nerves using rapidly changing magnetic fields, but cannot be focused on small groups of brain cells.

Niels Birbaumer, a neuroscientist at the University of Tuebingen in Germany, told New Scientist he had looked at the Sony patent and "found it plausible." Birbaumer himself has developed a device that enables disabled people to communicate by reading their brain waves.

A Sony Electronics spokeswoman told the magazine that no experiments had been conducted, and that the patent "was based on an inspiration that this may someday be the direction that technology will take us."

/End Quote

that about sums it up. for now its "vaporware".

One step closer to the Matrix

thats interesting. Would come in good with Holograms.

~Thanato

Well, this is only good [If it is infact going somewhere besides inspiration] for disabled and needy medical patients. Returning sight without surgery and with little effort would be a milestone of a medical breakthrough.

Why isn't it good? If this is ever put into video games it's going to be more addicting than cigarettes. People are going to live fake lives in video games, and of course people are going to request or mod things dealing with "other" sensual experiences other than swinging a sword for example. It would be probably be what World of Warcraft is today times 50, for starts.

Although, if you do recognize the fact that you need a real life and don't become addicted, then well, thats good for you.

addiction will always occur to a % of the population.

fantasy is just so much more exciting, more promising, than reality. Fantasy is good, but it too easily becomes the focus when the alternative is lacking

If this was total bunk, why did Sony apply for and recieve a patient on the technology?

its a patent on the idea!! so if one day they make it, bam, they will have trillions!

And, if they could use that brain thing to make you see stuff, wouldn't there be a hacker somewhere who uses it for evil purposes? He goes into a bank, turns it on and BAM! everyone thinks that nothing is going on, but really mr.thief goes and steals right from under thier noses.

Or a million other uses for bad, not just good.

The Raven's right. But I don't like this idea at all. Not to go all holy, but how much is sony paying to develop this thing? And...well I'm no genius, but Wasn't there an incident a long time ago where a guy killed his child because he saw it on Silent Hill? Don't get me wrong I blame his own screwy mind. I love the games. But it's a fact that society hides thousands of cold blooded killers just searching for an excuse. What if the unmatched realism pushed people over the edge? Silent Hill scares me now! I'd hate to be able to smell PH scewering people. The idea only works if the people can work WITH it

Yes there was, Fox_Lupine. There was actually many events which led to SH being considored for ban-ment in the UK. A man killed his baby with a hammer, another man killed her sister with a crowbar. There are many incidents of the like that go unreported or unnoticed, as with GTA or Resident Evil. But the graphical advance has always been so. Look at the origonal space invaders. People became obsessive and killed themselves over it and other 2-bit games. But it hasnt got much worse with a 3D rayman? Nope, the graphical advance will continue just as these events will; there is no stopping them. This will only further blue the lines of reality, and with Televison, the internet, mass media, MMORPG, what can be the real harm?

Well, ithey can put more appropriate warnings and labels. They could possibly even implement a biometrics system into the device which was activated by some sort of retina or finger scanning device which filters out users who have commited serious crimes, or have a history of tampering with networks or computers. Anything ran on a computer is hackable, who knows what the average evil genius hacker could do to a retail game, or the person playing it.

More appropriate warnings and labels? If that worked the huge SMOKING KILLS signs might have worked.

I never said, Walken, that we could stop them. I just think this is a huge waste of money that could potentially betray the developers and bury them in lawsuits.

Is there ANYTHING we can see visualy we havn't already on our screens that could cause such a problem? I say we quit while we're ahead

Its not Sonys problem if the gamer is ignorant enough to not know when to quit or see it as only a game. Some people are responsible enough to, "play" in MMORPGs, RPGs, and realistic combat simulations and they should not be prohibited. If the person is that crazy and kills someone because of a video game, then that person, I believe, should be put in the electric chair like any other, hell, tell him its a ride.

well put, it is about personal responsibility. you are the only one in control of your actions.

Look, the way i figure it is if a guy goes out and jumps off a bridge onto a moving truck, blaming the matrix then hes nuts. that simple. I'm not blaming what we watch, i'm admitting it is often used as an excuse

How many more excuses will be unearthed if we can smell it, even feel it?

Well, hopefully this technology won't be prohibited because of some mentally challenged or unresponsible people. Its got so much potential as a medical application, military simulator, or something not much different then the holodeck on StarTrek.

Maybe I am going to far. Maybe this echnology could be used for medical purposes, but I still think letting any old peron get their hands on it is asking for trouble

This reminds me of the Playstation 9 commercial (for those who don't know what I'm talking about click here ). Although the PS9 was an orb that released spores, it is still more or less the same. If Sony actually comes out with a PS9 that is based on this technology, there would be no limit to what people can do. This is both a good and bad thing, but I admit that I truely hope they come out with it, maybe because I'm both a gaming and Matrix fan.

That kind of technology is much closer than 2079 lol...

True virtual reality could be as close as 15-20 years away

I made a little prediction somewhere on this site, here it is:

2005 - 2020
In the near future we will see brilliant Virtual reality equipment that will be a lot cheaper and will be smaller. Nanotechnology and moores law trend will make Computer chips much more powerful while being cheaper, faster. So Images will be beemed Directly into our Eye retina or you will be able to use contact lenses that you put on your eye, This Will totally immerse you into the world in terms of viewing the Virtual world.

There will be Vritual reality equipment that are available which is far better than what we have today, you will put on a suit. this suit will have millions of Sensors, when you touch something in the game you feel the texture.

A.I wil continually improve. As computer power is increasing we'll see more dynamic A.I. You may be able to engage in a conversation with A.I in the game, By talking to them using a technologies such as Voice recognition and your own facial expressions will also play a part in how the character in the game reacts to you. face recognition

This technology will be used for games, meeting people and for virtual sex. It will be incredibly realistic.

We will also be able to use our walls as TV screens. They will be ultra high defintion they will have 3D depth to them. every wall and window can turn into a display. You can paint screens on any object.

2020 +

Sometime when nanotechnology is a more mature technology we will see things like Nanobots that will go through our blood and into our brain and shut off our senses to the real world and take us into a virtual environment. There will be no plugs like demonstrated in the movie " matrix " This virtual reality will be no different from real life.

We will always be connected to the net, the internet will become an extension of our mind, always accessable

Great, then our children wouldn't have to use as much time doing things like school. They could all be walking, talking, calculators, history books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.