There seems to be no end to the potential of scientific discovery and the latest mind-reading computer built by scientists and tech researchers is sure to not only read our minds but blow them as well.
The algorithm is able to figure out what you are thinking and produce the image in real time. Can you imagine the usefulness of such science-based technology? By simply connecting the algorithm to a computer, people would be able to send mental pictures over the internet that they never took. Better yet, they would be able to compose an email without ever typing or speaking it out loud.
As stupendous as these capabilities sound, scientists working on this mind-reading project are predicting that this new technology will not be ready for at least 10-20 years, not because of the limitations of science, but the logistics of manufacturing it at a reasonable cost that the masses can afford.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/mind-reading-algorithm-can-decode-pictures-your-head
All-Inclusive Algorithm
Scientists have been working on mind-reading technology for some time now – since 2011 to be exact. However, this new mind-reading algorithm is different. While the old technology was able to capture images that were being viewed at the moment, this new algorithm can do the same as well as capture images being thought and imagined.
In the past, mind-reading technology was able to capture dreams, movies, photos, and images being viewed, but they had to be pre-programmed and pre-categorized to a specific topic or image in order to capture it. Basically, the computer already knew that the subject was looking at a person or an animal and only then could reproduce the specific image.
With this new algorithm, however, no programs or categories are needed. If you can see it or even imagine it, then it can interpret and recreate it in an instant.
FMR
Functional Magnetic Resonance (FMR) is what scientists used to create this specific algorithm.
FMR is able to predict what a person is seeing by measuring blood flow in the brain. It can then map out a small area of the brain where the activity is taking place and is able to recognize what a person is seeing by simply measuring that specific activity.
Of course, thousands of people had to have seen the same image during the experiments in order for the computer to recognize a pattern and combine it with a specific image. After it associated the image with the brain activity, it could then figure out what the person was thinking by measuring their brain activity alone and no longer needed the subject to viewing something, only thinking it.
DNN
Neuroscientists working on the project were able to replace the FMR with a Deep Neural Network (DNN) software after some time, as it was able to measure several layers of brain activity all at once with greater accuracy and speed than the FMR alone.
In combination with the DNN, computer and neuroscientists used specific decoding software that was able to more accurately interpret the brain’s response to certain images much faster than with the fMRI machine they were previously using to conduct their research with.
In essence, the DNN’s software interpretations replaced the FMR readings and technology and were able to create an algorithm that could read minds in real time!
