‘Thought-talking’ possible within decade, experts predict

By Dick Pelletier

Technologies that enable us to control machines and communicate with each other using only our thoughts will become fully developed within ten years, predicts University of Reading’s neural implant pioneer, Dr. Kevin Warwick.

In 1998, Warwick inserted a silicon transponder into his left arm enabling him to open doors and switch on lights. Four years later, he installed another chip into his arm that connected his nervous system to a computer allowing him to control an electric wheelchair and robotic hand with just his thoughts.

He then implanted a chip in his wife Irena’s arm, linking their brains together via the Internet. “When she moved her hand three times”, he said, “I felt three pulses, and my brain recognized that my wife was communicating with me”. This was the world’s first electronic brain-to-brain communication.

In addition to words, the mind can also transmit pictures, graphics, and emotions, making conversations more interesting and accurate than they are today. Through more clear communication, thought-talking will create better understanding between people, which could reduce conflicts, in turn resulting in less violence.

Thought-talking will be easy to initiate: you just think of whom you want to communicate with and you’re connected. And if they give permission, you can see through their eyes, and share their feelings.

This technology will increase security too. If you suddenly fall ill, simply think your doctor’s name and he or she will immediately respond, understand your distress, and even feel your pain; diagnosis is made and paramedics are on their way. Later, interactive technologies (expected by the 2020s) will allow the doctor to perform therapies using thoughts, rendering the paramedics unnecessary.

We will also command machines with thoughts. Quadriplegic Matthew Nagel was the first to have an electrode array implanted into his brain to re-establish motor functions. Nagel can now send email and control a prosthetic arm using only his thoughts. Experts predict this technology will one day restore mobility to the disabled, sight to the blind, and cure many brain diseases.

Will thought-talking eliminate the mouse and keyboard? Brown University Professor John Donoghue believes it will. Today, thoughts interface with machines at a rate of 15 words-per-minute, half the speed the average person writes by hand, but by 2012, however, experts predict this will increase to 170 words-per-minute. Imagine issuing commands to a computer faster than you can even speak them.

Later, a non-invasive system will replace today’s implants. University of Virginia scientist Stuart Wolf anticipates that by 2020, we will wear a computerized headband enabling us to control driverless cars and household appliances, access the Internet, and thought-talk with people around the world. And since everyone will have one, these headbands will undoubtedly become the rage of futuristic fashions.

However, conservatives voice concern over thought-talking. They worry that as we train our brain to send and recognize thoughts, we may find ourselves speaking less; eventually, language as we know it could become obsolete. If we no longer use language, how might this affect humanity?

But a recent National Science Foundation report assures that technologies like this will be an “enhancement to individuals, giving them greater opportunities to achieve personal goals”. Get ready to enjoy a most ‘magical future’.

This article appeared in various print publications and on-line blogs. Comments always welcome.