Monkey Brains In U.S. Make Robot Walk In Japan
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have successfully used a monkey to control a robot. By putting the monkey on a treadmill and implanting electrodes into its brain, the movement of the robot in Japan matched the movements of the monkey in the U.S. The movement of the robot continued after the treadmill stopped, supposedly as the monkey was still thinking about walking. This research is motivated by the desire to help those severely paralyzed be able to walk again. Researchers hope to create robotic limbs that respond to users’ thoughts.
Security-wise, I’m skeptical of the transmission across a network. While it makes for a more sensational news story, the research would be more sound if the element of network security was removed altogether. Perhaps a man-in-the-middle told the robot in Japan how to move. Controlling a robot in the same room has the same effect, but minus the security concerns of communicating across the world.
On a broader security perspective, we have to be concerned with what information can be gleaned directly from human thought. Today we’re learning the electrical thought patterns of locomotion, but such understanding could lead to understanding more types of thought. Losing the privacy of our homes would be dystopian enough, but to top that off with losing the privacy of one’s own thoughts would be very scary. I could imagine someone placing a tap on someone’s brain. Even worse, once the electrodes are implanted, the electrical signals could be transmitted wirelessly — you’re thoughts could be on the airwaves for everyone within a certain radius to tap. For kicks, let’s go one step further and imagine a world where those electrodes could also send electrical signals. Voila, we have a hackable brain (Ghost in the Shell, anyone?).