Does mind reading exist in real life? While most of us used to think that the ability to read a person's thought exists only in magic shows and fiction movies, recent breakthrough technology actually allows computers to identify and understand human thoughts. This could be the greatest user interface revolution of all times.
The history of UI
The short history of computers includes several revolutionary inventions, that have completely changed the way human interact with computers. In 1963 the first mouse was invented, in 1973 the first touch screens were produced, and nowadays there is a growing use of gesture recognition like in Microsoft's Kinect.
Surprisingly, despite all this progress and these revolutions, the computer keyboard that has been around since the dawn of computers still remain a necessary user interface component, that is impossible to manage without.
For years, the common belief was that the future of human-computer communication will be based on voice user interface (VUI), and lately it seems like the pace of events that involves integrating this technology into our lives is increasing rapidly. Voice interaction is very intuitive to us - we have been using it to communicate with each other for thousands of years, so it seems very natural that this will be the way to communicate with computers as well. Nevertheless, the computer keyboard has 3 significant benefits over VUI:
It maintains the user's privacy.
Several users can work next to each other without disturbing one another.
Most people are able to type faster than they can speak.
While the VUI probably won't ever function as a full replacement for the commuter keyboard, an other extraordinary development might do so: brain-computer interface (BCI) or in simple words - mind reading.
The brain-computer interface
Mind reading technology is not science fiction - it is a pure science and it works! It's based on reading and interpretation of electroencephalography (EEG). This is not a new technology. In fact, already in 1977 an experiment revealed the option of controlling a cursor-like graphical object on a computer screen with the power of the mind alone.
While BCI technology is still at its early stages and hasn't yet been integrated in our life, there are more and more signs that indicate that this technology is going to become a significant part of the future of user interface. Several months ago Facebook announced that they have been working on a technology that will let you type words directly from your brain. While it might sounds like a pretentious step, a team from Carnegie Mellon University has recently developed a way to accurately read more complex concepts from a brain scan, and even piece together entire sentences.
“One day, I believe we’ll be able to send full rich thoughts to each other directly using technology.". "You’ll just be able to think of something and your friends will immediately be able to experience it too if you’d like."
Mark Zuckerberg, June 2015
Facebook is not the only player in this field: Elon Musk (SpaceX and Tesla CEO) had recently founded a new brain-computer interface venture named Neuralink. Samsung has revealed that they are developing a similar technology. Intel has announced that by 2020 they will develop chips that could control computers. IBM and Xerox predict brain-controlled apps are going to be the future. A company named MindRDR is developing a mind reading interface for Google Glass. Incredible as it may sound, the mind reading era is knocking at our door. This site actually teaches you how to control your PC with your mind!
The possibilities of mind reading
The possibilities of brain-computer interface are mind-blowing, if you'll pardon the pun. Starting with the trivial application of helping people with disabilities: people who suffer from ALS, like Stephen Hawking, could easily communicate and control electronic devices simply with their mind. All types of speech disorders will be less noticeable in a world, where one could simply think about what he wants to say. Even mental retardation and autism could be handled better using this kind of technology.
Another major revolution that the BCI will bring will be in the field of translation. In this mind reading future, language differentiation will no longer be a barrier for communication, as two persons will be able to conduct an online conversation in which each of them thinks in his own language, and the computer makes s simultaneous translation. Moreover, the BCI might eliminate the need for any language, as you could simply send your thoughts directly without the need for any words as intermediates.
While many science fiction movies have predicted a future with flying cars and cool spaceships, almost all of them missed one thing: people will drive only by using their mind and there will be no need for steering wheels, joysticks, buttons and handles. That is, if people will choose to drive - they will probably prefer to use auto-driver. Future transportation regulation will face an interesting challenge: if today it is forbidden to text while driving, in the future it might be forbidden to send messages trough your thoughts while driving. This could be very challenging to enforce.
The elimination of the computer keyboard will also dramatically change the common work environment, especially in high-tech companies. While nowadays working from home is becoming more and more common, as all you need is simply a computer and an internet connection, in this mind reading future people could work while working out at the gym, hiking or even while swimming - you could literally do you work from anywhere.
Having an interface that can transform our thoughts directly into actions on the computer will also have a dramatic effect on modern types of art. Composers and songwriters, for example, could simply think about the music they want to create, and the computer could play it instantly. Graphic designers, photographers, video editors and many others will be able to focus on the creative part of their job, rather than on the technical part. A future music concert might look entirely different, when the performers will control the music, sounds and lights using their thoughts.
However, the biggest change is going to be in the general way people communicate with each other. While today a significant part of human communication is being done by writing - either by SMS, email or any social platform, in the future most of it will be done simply by exchanging thoughts. This is going to produce a tremendous social impact, especially among the young people who tend to be the first to adapt new technologies. Many of them might even stop using their mouth to communicate, as it will be much easier to simply exchange thoughts.
The downsides of BCI
As in all other integrations of new technologies in our life, BCI will have its downsides too. While BCI technology that is being developed today is very primary and won't allow recognition of more than basic toughs, in the future this technology will probably progresssignificantly. Deepest thoughts or even feelings of people might be revealed to the computer. It's scary to think about what governments or corporations could do with this type of information. Moreover, hackers and terrorist might steal this data.
If this is not enough, many studies, like a recent study from Duke University, have found that more use of technology is linked to increases in attention, behavior and self-regulation problems for adolescents. In accordance, if the way we use technology today is bad for our mental heath, connecting it directly into our brain probably won't be better.
In conclusion
Naturally, at first many people will fear it, but gradually everyone will get used to this idea and it will become a natural part of our life. Whether you like it or not, the entrance of brain-computer interface into our life is probably inevitable, and it seems like this is going to be one of the biggest revolutionary innovations - even more significant than smartphones or social networks.