Exploring Facebook's Shift from Thought-Reading Tech
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Chapter 1: The Evolution of Facebook's Brain Tech
I have no desire to accelerate my posting on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. The idea of a device that reads my thoughts is unappealing; I’m not frustrated by the occasional lag between my thoughts and my typing. Perhaps it's time to embrace a slower pace.
Thus, I’m not disheartened by Facebook's decision, particularly from its research division, Reality Labs, to pivot from a head-mounted thought-reading device to wrist-based neural interface technology and more user-friendly AR/VR input methods.
When Facebook first revealed its development of a non-invasive brain interface four years ago, I felt a twinge of concern. Former VP of Engineering Regina Dugan posed an intriguing question: “What if you could type directly from your brain?” This left me drawing comparisons to Frankenstein’s monster.
To be fair, Dugan and her team at UC San Francisco were not planning to disassemble and reconstruct digitally connected social media users. Their aim was never to read thoughts directly; rather, it was to interpret the impulses that could eventually translate into the words and sentences intended for a Facebook post or any text-based platform.
Amidst the news of Facebook scaling back its funding for optically connected social media input research, it’s essential to recognize the advances made by researchers. They have successfully “restored a person’s ability to communicate by decoding brain signals sent from the motor cortex to the vocal tract,” according to a recent blog update.
It's important to highlight that while the ultimate goal is a non-invasive method, this particular breakthrough did necessitate a brain implant to capture brain signals. These signals were then transmitted to a computer, which utilized Facebook's machine learning technology to convert them into words and sentences.
Chapter 2: The Real Impact of Brain-Interface Technology
This development is significant, especially concerning its potential benefits for individuals with disabilities. Similar to Elon Musk's Neuralink, which allowed a monkey to engage in ping pong through brain signals, the research is increasingly focused on aiding those who have lost their ability to speak due to paralysis. By separating Facebook's social media aspirations from this essential line of study, researchers can advance brain implant methodologies while still exploring optical (infrared-based) brain signal reading technologies.
Facebook's new aim of creating a wrist-based device may involve capturing electrical signals from the brain, potentially leading to a brain-to-screen typing interface. While this is speculative, the challenge remains: How will the technology differentiate between the actions of each hand unless there are sensors on both wrists? For one-handed typists, this could be an ideal solution.
More importantly, I hope that tech giants like Facebook, Google, Elon Musk, DARPA, and others continue to shift their focus away from consumer-oriented brain-reading technologies and instead combine resources to assist those who can no longer move, see, hear, speak, or breathe independently. According to the World Bank, 15% of the global population lives with some form of disability. The brain, unless damaged, is constantly sending signals, but these often fail to reach their intended destinations due to issues with the spinal cord or atrophied muscles.
Technologies that can tap into the brain and bypass these failures represent remarkable advancements in science. I wholeheartedly support this direction. As for any devices intended to listen to my brain or connect with my body, I will politely decline.
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