Are You Ready For What Your Brain Is Connected To The Internet?

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Today, this thing called the Internet of Things has no secrets for us. We have generally accepted the idea that anything that can be digitally bound across the endless expanse of the Internet world will surely be. However, what happens when one of these connected objects is your brain? If at one time it belonged to science fiction, today is where we are heading: neuronal digitization, or when our brains become links in the chain that is the net.

This phenomenon is called the Brainternet: it works by converting brainwaves into signals that can be broadcast live and made accessible through a web portal. This technology is based on fairly simple elements. A person is equipped with a portable electroencephalogram (EEG) that captures the signals of the brain waves. These signals are then transmitted to a small computer which, with the help of a specific code, decrypts them into information that will feed a website.

For now, it's a one-way road. People on the Internet portal can see what happens in a person's brain, within the limits of what the GET can offer, but can not communicate information in the other direction. The creators of technology explain that the transmission of information in both directions is what is termed.

"We aim to allow interactivity between the user and his brain so that the user can emit a stimulus and see the answer," said Adam Pantanowitz, who oversaw the creative team of this technology, Wits University School of Electrical and Information Engineering (Johannesburg, South Africa). "In the future, information could be transferred in both directions - from the brain to the outside, and vice versa."

What will make this interactivity possible is, of course, our smartphones. Imagine an application on your laptop that calls another person's brain; perhaps your brain will also be in the repertoire of that other person.

In the immediate future, the applications associated with this technology are less controversial. Its creators say that it is mainly to allow a better understanding of how the brain works. The technology offers some practical applications in the field of health.

"In the short to medium term, this simple and portable technology can make possible some very advanced medical applications, such as transmitting brain data in case a person suffers from epilepsy, or blood glucose data if a person has diabetes, "Adam writes in an email. "This can allow people to interact with their own data in a unique way (via an interface, on a smartphone), and to store these data easily (for diagnostic purposes) share with a health professional for example. "

The EEG has not been modified, and this technology does not bring anything alarming: in fact, many devices that translate brainwaves into exploitable signals already exist. Some of these devices are kinds of games, and others are remarkable applications that allow speechless communication and thus offer a way to lessen the difficulty of diseases like paralysis.

The new element involved in this system is connectivity. The use of brain waves to accomplish tasks is one thing, the exploitation and translation of brain activity on a network is another. Add to that the interactivity, making a person capable of sending and receiving signals, and that is another page that we turn in the science fiction novel that we all share. While this may be inevitable, it is still a good idea to consider the possible consequences of the evolution of our brains towards ever more transparency.

According to Adam, we should think of these concerns today: "I believe that every brain signal produced by a person should be exploited as part of a subscription. Everyone will not be inclined to share in the "open source" signals of his thoughts (and some of his most private data). This must therefore be treated with serious consideration, such as the safety of such systems in the future. "

This project, he adds, is a demonstration of feasibility that can catalyze overall conversations on the subject. "I think technology will take us faster than we think in a situation where we will have to struggle and where major concerns will arise. A project such as this can serve as a catalyst for reflection around this and allow us to face important questions that need to be answered upstream. "

The Brainternet is only a step forward in the digital world, but a step heavy in meaning; it should raise some questions about the future that awaits us.