At Facebook ’s yearly developer conference , F8 , on Wednesday , the mathematical group unveiled what may be Facebook ’s most challenging — and creepiest — proposal yet . Facebook wants to build its own “ wit - to - figurer interface ” that would allow us to send thoughts full-strength to a computer .
What if you could typewrite directly from your psyche ? ” Regina Dugan , the forefront of the company ’s secretive hardware R&D class , Building 8 , asked from the stage . Dugan then proceeded to show a television demonstration of a charwoman typecast eight words per mo right away from the stage . In a few years , she said , the team hopes to evidence a real - clip silent speech organization capable of delivering a hundred word per min .
“ That ’s five times faster than you’re able to typecast on your smartphone , and it ’s straight from your brain , ” she say . “ Your brain body process hold in more data than what a Book sounds like and how it ’s spelled ; it also contains semantic selective information of what those words intend . ”
Brain - reckoner interfaces are nothing new . DARPA , which Dugan used to head , hasinvested heavilyin Einstein - figurer user interface applied science to do affair like cure mental illness and repair computer storage to soldier injured in war . But what Facebook is proposing is perhaps more radical — a universe in which societal media does n’t require picking up a telephone set or tap a articulatio radiocarpea lookout so as to communicate with your friends ; a world where we ’re link all the clock time by thought alone .
“ Our world is both digital and strong-arm , ” she said . “ Our goal is to create and ship newfangled , class - defining consumer products that are social first , at plate . ”
She also showed a video that certify a 2d technology that showed the ability to “ listen ” to human speech through quivering on the skin . This tech has been in development to aid people with disabilities , work a little like a Braille that you feel with your trunk rather than your fingers . Using actuators and detector , a connected armband was able-bodied to convey to a woman in the video a tactile vocabulary of nine different words .
Dugan add that it ’s also potential to “ listen ” to human speech by using your skin . It ’s like using braille but through a system of actuators and sensing element . Dugan showed a video example of how a woman could fancy out on the dot what object were take on a touchscreen found on stimulant cede through a connected armband .
Facebook ’s construction 8 is modeled after DARPA and its projects lean to be equally ambitious . Brain - computer user interface technology is still in its early childhood . So far , investigator have been successful in using it to allow masses with disabilities to control paralyzed or prosthetic limbs . But excite the brain ’s motor cortex is a lot unproblematic than take a person ’s thoughts and then translating those idea into something that might actually be read by a computer .
The remainder goal is to establish an online world that feels more immersive and actual — no doubt so that you expend more time on Facebook .
“ Our encephalon bring forth enough data point to pour 4 HD film every second . The problem is that the good means we have to get information out into the world — words — can only transmit about the same amount of data as a 1980s modem , ” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook station . “ We ’re working on a organization that will let you typecast direct from your brain about 5x quicker than you may type on your phone today . finally , we want to ferment it into a wearable technology that can be manufactured at exfoliation . Even a simple yes / no ‘ brain click ’ would help make things like augment reality feel much more natural . ”
The learning ability , though , is boundlessly complex . Each thing we pick up about it seems to head to more mystery that we have yet to see .
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