Chip allows for thought-controlled machines
July 31 2008 / by futuretalk
Category: Other Year: General Rating: 4 Hot
By Dick Pelletier
By 2015, experts believe, tiny microchips placed under our skin will enable us to control consumer electronic devices and browse the Internet with just our thoughts. BT Futurologist Ian Pearson says we could place these chips into the upper layers of the skin and arrange them into useful circuits to power and control our electronic world.
Researchers propose a five layered architecture, referred to as active skin. A master chip, installed deep in the skin, would connect with blood capillaries and nerve endings; and would eventually, as technology develops, exchange data directly with the brain. The master chip would communicate with temporary chips placed higher in the skin that would wash or wear away after a few days.
These non-permanent chips would be created in thin polymer membranes that adhere to the skin like invisible stick-on patches. The combination of layers would allow gadgets to be built linking us to our entire electronic world and the Internet.
Computers, cell phones, music players, and other devices could be implanted on our wrists and hands, with full keyboards. These would remain invisible until our touch made them light up. The circuitry itself would be made of dispersed groups of invisible devices.
Medical sensors could be implanted to stave off heart attacks and strokes, monitor blood chemistry 24/7, and alert hospital computers to any emergency. They could also remotely administer drugs to precise body locations.
Displays for active skin devices would be made of small organic LEDs that light up on command. Viewing a TV picture or browsing the Internet on the back of our hand would be quite appealing. Imagine web-searching or processing email just by looking at your hand. Or making phone calls without opening your mouth – your party hears words created only by your thoughts.
Cosmetic changes will be easy with active skin. Different “looks” can be achieved with texture alterations of our skin surface (that’s how butterfly wings get their color). Merely thinking of a pre-programmed make-up image will make that look appear. Looks can be changed often during the day; business-like in the office, seductive at a lunchtime liaison with fiancé, and a natural look for family.
The same holds true for perfume. Active skin could print a thin warming element to vaporize perfume components on request. Another idea for the female market would be to enlarge or reduce, on command, the volume of silicone inside a breast implant.
Active skin will also provide greatly enhanced interfaces for computer games. Gamers believe this new technology, enhanced by creative thoughts and imagination could even produce an equivalent of the Star Trek Holodeck, which wasn’t supposed to arrive until the 25th century.
Will this future happen? Many believe the electronics industry, driven by mega-billions in profits, is already on the way towards making these predictions come true. The question is not will active skin become reality, but when.
This fantasy world is part of our “magical future”, gang. Get ready to enjoy the experience. Comments welcome.
Comment Thread (6 Responses)
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This is intriguing, but what about the potential for malfunction? You could end up smelling like a garbage dump while looking seductive to your mother.
Sometimes I wonder if most people will really want all this stuff, though I forget my cell phone often enough that I wouldn’t mind it being implanted—provided I could turn it off.
Posted by: Mielle Sullivan August 01, 2008
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You make a good point Mielle. Like most products when they’re new, there will undoubtedly be a hiccup or two; but all of the applications of forward technologies like this are commerce-driven. If the public wants it; somebody will build it. If it doesn’t sell, it will quickly be forgotten.
Posted by: futuretalk August 01, 2008
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Aren’t they also driven by the military? That’s what scares me about the magical future.
Posted by: AJ0111 August 01, 2008
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Yes aj0111, unfortunately much of this research is funded by DARPA and other military interests. It’s sad, but humanity’s intra-global conflicts rate high in the minds of our leaders. This won’t be the case in nine or ten decades, but today, it’s pitifully a fact.
Posted by: futuretalk August 01, 2008
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@futuretalk – There are some concerns about the intention of the military with these types of technologies, however, I don’t see it as unfortunate. I would love to see a transformational shift of context inside of how we relate to the military.
DARPA does a fantastic job researching and developing technologies. I am not sure if it has been graphed, but there is a direct relationship between the urgency/effectiveness of technology/invention AND the defense and assurance of life (ideology, nation or religion).
My commitment is that people who thoroughly understand accelerated technological growth and the implications are responsible for their power and their language.
Bloggers like us are the shepherds of these conversations.
Posted by: Peltaire August 02, 2008
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Excellent comment Peltaire, if it wasn’t for DARPA, we would not be enjoying the Internet and a gazillion other conveniences. Their research capabilities are nearly unlimited.
However, I see a future unfolding by the end of this century where strife between nations and cultures will be eliminated reducing the need for military power.
For thousands of years, humanity has existed in a zero-sum tribal world in which a gain for one tribe, state or nation meant a loss for another tribe, state, or nation. And our political, economic, and military systems have been designed for use in that win-lose world.
However many forward-thinking economists predict that over the next nine or ten decades, democratic capitalism, the blending of liberal democracy and free markets will spread across the globe through democratic movements in developing nations and additional trading blocs such as the European Union will appear.
Globalism will include worldwide wireless Internet access, with all knowledge digitized and available to everyone; a completely global economy with free markets in which anyone can trade with anyone without interference from states or governments; a planet where all states are democracies in which all individuals are treated equal.
This partly describes a Type I Civilization status which many positive futurists believe could be achieved by 2100.
The forces that could prevent us from making this great leap forward are primarily political and economic. The resistance by nondemocratic states to turning power over to the people is considerable, especially in theocracies whose leaders would prefer we revert back to a tribal chiefdom era. And these rogue nations are strengthened by their military prowess. Comments welcome.
Posted by: futuretalk August 02, 2008
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