Subscription Center
Kevin Warwick wired his nervous system into the Internet and his wife; now he's out to become one with The Matrix
March 10, 2008 | 8
Those who don't avail themselves of subcutaneous microchips and other implanted technology, Warwick predicts, will be at a serious disadvantage in tomorrow's world, because they won't be able to communicate with "superintelligent machines."...[More]
During his experiments, Warwick has been able to control the movements of a robot hand, an electric wheelchair and the lights in his lab using electric pulses from his own nervous system....[More]
In another experiment, Warwick was able to change the color of a necklace using neural signals created by opening and closing his hand. The same signals that told his hand to open or close hand were used to change the color of the necklace (worn by his wife) from red to blue....[More]
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
Jacking into the Brain--Is the Brain the Ultimate Computer Interface?
Could Battery Advances Mean a Better Robot?
Look Out!: Ann Arbor Cars to Communicate with One Another to Avoid Crashes [Slide Show]
The Limits of Intelligence
The Migration History of Humans: DNA Study Traces Human Origins Across the Continents
Robot Pack Mule to Carry Loads for G.I.s on the Move
Body of Thought: How Trivial Sensations Can Influence Reasoning, Social Judgment and Perception
Wireless Wonder
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
8 Comments
Add CommentI'd be really curious to know exactly what Warwick had to do to get ethical approval for this.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs with most geniuses, Warwicks determination limits objectivity. The chances that brain implants be required for advanced man-machine communication dimishes with progress in other fields, such as the ability to scan and interpret brainwaves with non-intrusive techniques (See http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=translating-images-from-brain-waves&sc=rss)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would hesitate to hook myself up to a central supercomputer. Who knows who could gain control over it in the future?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWarwick is anything but a genius. He is a known publicity whore whose work has no scientific merit whatsoever. He is a bad joke among computer science researchers, but the media loves him because they say things like "becoming one with the matrix" and it sells copy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is cool. I wonder what would happen if one just connected an 8 bit bi-directional interface to the brain - based on the research where the dude was able to learn to move a mouse cursor to communicate, it would seem that the brain is fully capabable of learning to control and communicate with directly connected hardware. After a training period might it not also be able to identify the full ascii character set as a series of binary signals, and transmit them as well? Why is research in this area so slow? I would imagine that a large # of people would be willing to get outfitted with even a low-bandwith, character only internet connection if they could, or to test such a device. I don't understand why research in this area is so slow.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this--
Edited by jbrave at 03/17/2008 10:18 AM
Kevin Warwick is not a genius, he's someone who's managed to delude the media into thinking he's a serious researcher. Questions need to be asked why so little of his supposed research is written up in peer reviewed academic journals, and further questions about his ethics - such as when he proposed to chip a young girl in the immediate wake of a child abduction and murder.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt'd help the field immensely if publications such as Wired stopped giving Warwick the oxygen of publicity - at least until he actually does something novel.
I've got bad news for Kevin Warwick: A world run by superintelligent computers that put natural humans out to pasture ain't going to happen. The weapons that will shut such systems down already exist and are unstoppable. But keep on dreaming while you can. When it all goes too far, the plug will be pulled. Trust me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYep! Can you say precursor to Skynet? Kevin "Miles Dyson" Warwick.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this