In what the brains at Duke University are calling the "first-ever demonstration of a two-way interaction between a primate brain and a virtual body," two monkeys have been wired up with implants that let them "move and feel virtual objects." This could mean big things for medicine, entertainment and VR anime holodecks.
Brain implants promise a lot of things, from combatting mental degradation caused by age and disease, to boosting the output of some already healthy gray matter. Far fetched as it sounds, researchers and Israel just took a step toward that glorious cyborg-filled future with the successful installation of a synthetic cerebellum in a rat.
Creating direct interfaces between humans and machines isn't easy, because our bodies use more than just electricity to send signals. We also rely on ions and protons, and the same material that makes up the insides of squids and the outsides of crabs can be used to tap into these channels to control our cells directly.
A new process that allows complex circuitry and electrical component to be applied directly to the skin is big news for medical sensors, but it could also lead to LED tattoos, video game interfaces that are integrated into your body, and even direct control of your muscles by a computer.
It's been far too long since the last, good cyberpunk vision of the future along the lines of Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell. Deus Ex is bringing back all that dark, mechanized goodness in a world that's black,...
Feeling a little weak in the arms lately? Forget working out and eating right; for just a couple thousand dollars you'll be able to get a bolt-on robotic exoskeletal arm that does all the heavy lifting for you.
All those 3DTVs and virtual reality goggles are soon to be rendered obsolete by contact lenses with built-in LED arrays that can display images on top of your retinas, whether you want them to or not.
Oscar Pistorius isn't competing in this year's Olympics, and that's a good thing. In case you missed it, Pistorius is the double-amputee sprinter who occasionally has carbon-fiber artificial limbs stand in for his missing lower legs. His amazing Cheetah...