In the future direct interfacing between the brain and technology seems likely. The rudimentary technology has already been demonstrated and Musk’s company is working on an implant meant to be a commercial product. My question is about how you see the interface eventually working. In particular I am curious about what the advantage of an implant is.
From the demonstrations I’ve seen things like typing, moving cursors, ect can be achieved with sensors applied to the body externally like an fmri skullcap or a neckband that reads vibrations in the vocal cords. External sensors are much safer to apply than a brain implant, they can be replaced much more easily if they malfunction, and they can be upgraded. I have read an article that said there are advantages to implants for people with medical issues like paralysis because the implant can offer feedback providing a more “normal” experience and interacting with specific nerves gives more precise control and less lag time. For medical applications like restoring lost function that makes the risk of surgery make sense. For the average person what advantages do implants offer over external sensors that make the risks of brain surgery worth it?
It’s like looking through frosted glass. If you’re looking at someone, and trying to figure out what they are doing. Frosted glass means you can kinda see their overall posture, and some big movements. That’s like the skull cap. In order to use it you would have to make large changes in your brain patterns so it can be detected. But put clear glass, even a small window, and you can see exactly. Even a small window on the right place will let you read their lips, or watch their hands. That’s like the implant. Even though the implant reads a very small part of the brain, the data it gets is very clean and gives more precise control to the user.