How Brain-Computer Interface Will Change Our World

Mark Zuckerberg is a big supporter in the future of virtual and augmented reality. So much so that his company is developing quite the futuristic concept. Even though they are predicting this idea to be at least five to ten years out, it has the tech world buzzing. [caption id="attachment_4500" align="alignleft" width="300"] From Pixabay[/caption] He wants to develop glasses that will replace smartphones. Not a VR/AR headset, but actual, normal looking glasses. How will they work? From what Mr. Zuckerberg says, you will be able to control them with your mind. That theory is a little more than my pea-brain can handle, but I would agree that virtual reality has come a long way in a short time. This post from Business Insider explains more this brain-computer interface (BCI) sensor:

Facebook: The first technology to replace smartphones will be controlled with our brains - Business Insider

[caption id="attachment_4501" align="alignright" width="275"] Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

Leaders like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg believe the nascent technology, known as augmented reality, could eventually replace all screens, including TVs. They say that when you can display virtually anything onto the world around you, the need for physical displays is essentially erased.

The answer lies in connecting directly with your brain, Facebook chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer recently told Business Insider. And it's a big part of why Facebook is working on a brain sensor capable of letting people type using only their minds.

Read more here:  Facebook: The first technology to replace smartphones will be controlled with our brains - Business Insider

Since Facebook bought Oculus Rift in the summer of 2014, Mark and company have been on a mission to replace any physical devices such as monitors and TVs with virtual screens. The demonstration in the next video from 2016 Oculus Connect 3 keynote, Mark Zuckerberg shows off a live VR chat:

As innovative as all of this mind control sounds, it has actually been part of the medical world since the 1970's. BCI has been used predominantly for people who are disabled, helping them to be able to regain freedom of movement. [caption id="attachment_4505" align="alignright" width="300"] Wikimedia Commons[/caption] It was mostly tied to the research lab until recently, but there has been a push to have it be more mainstreamed. This is what Mark Zuckerberg and his team are attempting to do as well. The uses are mind boggling, with ethical and legal issues a definite concern. You can imagine how the military could use brain-computer-interface control to take out the enemy using drones. In the following Tweet, mind-controlled drones were used in a race by some students from the University of Florida in April of last year. Utilizing  a headset with sensors and their willpower, they all tried to move the drones across a 10 meter finish line as a demonstration of the power of BCI:

Mind-controlled drones show off latest in brain tech - Technology & Science - CBC News https://t.co/5rEMneruZS

— Fehim Hatipoglu (@fhatipog) May 5, 2017

It is a little scary considering the possibilities, but it is also completely fascinating. Someday our great grandchildren will be saying, "I can't believe you actually had to hold onto a physical device to communicate with other people." Their world will be much more virtual and hands free.

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