Imagination Transmiter

[Okith]

Hey im new to the forum but i have a question that was parcially answered here so I want to ask it differently. I was wondering if there was a way to transmit audio and visual impulses from the imagination part(s) of the brain and make them visable on a computer or other monitor. Its just something ive been thinking about for a while. Anyone have any input?

[iNow]

Hi Okith,

 

There most certainly exist probes that can transmit signals from the brain and map them to a screen, but it would not be visual content like a movie. It would just be a graph showing what is firing, how intensely it is firing, and how often it is firing (by "firing," I mean when a nerve cell is activated).

 

Can you clarify your question? Are you seeking a way to make what we see with our eyes into a movie that can be presented on a screen for others? If so, that is not possible at present.

[Okith]

What i was thinking of was a way to project the imagination onto a screen. Kind of like the Emotiv but with your imagination instead of a cube, etc.

[iNow]

Yeah, as far as I know, nothing like that exists... yet. We can present a graph of the signals on a screen, but not a "conscious" representation of what they represent in the "mind's eye."

[Okith]

Ok. Thanks for getting back to me:D

[LimbicLoser]

I think it would be an interesting thing, if it could be done; but would also have to say that it would be extremely difficult, for sure. The imagination would be pulling memory from a number of places (and mostly visual memory?), and if all that firing and mapping could be encoded and translated so as to produce what might otherwise be called the 'experience' (or qualia), then maybe yeah, we could see the subjective experience in the objective view--much, much better than fMRI, or multiply cell recording, or what-have-you. If ever it could be done, I'd be willing to bet it'd be far, far off into the distant future.

 

Yet, I'm curious as to where the concept may have come from.

[GDG]

What i was thinking of was a way to project the imagination onto a screen. Kind of like the Emotiv but with your imagination instead of a cube, etc.

 

There is work proceeding along that line, but it has a long way to go. Current interfaces are limited to moving a cursor, and in some cases selecting letters from a keyboard, or indicating vowel sounds.

[bascule]

Transmitting inner mental states is a potential application of brain/computer interfaces once they are sufficiently developed.