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"Killer App" for peripheral nervous interface?
Just curious about everyone's vision for where this might be headed.
Assuming that the technical challenges of direct electrical interface with peripheral nerves can be overcome, what will be the first useful/popular implant to interface directly with the peripheral nervous system?
An example of my thoughts:
Some type of implanted magnet and attached electrodes (forgive rudimentary technical knowledge), a la the cochlear implant, where the electrode interfaces with a peripheral nerve. The magnet is used to send/receive signals through the skin via an external magnet. The external magnet can be connected to any number of receptive devices tuned to pick up EM signals, sound/vibration, temperature, whatever. The ultimate effect is that a chosen stimulus excites the external receiver, the receiver transmits wirelessly/transcutaneously to the subdermal magnet, which stimulates the peripheral nerve via an electrode, rendering a sensation.
Just one broad idea.
What are your ideas for the first 'big' cybernetic device to interface directly with the peripheral nervous system? What will be the 'killer app' that makes these implants have broad appeal?
Comments
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There are so many possibilities, but my goal is being able to read/write pager/text messages "telepathically", i.e. once we get enough input/output electrodes, we can use them to represent letters. It will take a lot of learning to be able to do it well, but I'm sure we all remember the old phones with only a keypad where one had to press each number a few times to get the right letter, after a few years of doing that, people became very fast, and could input text without looking. With enough practice, I'm sure the same thing can be achieved with a peripheral nerve interface. Pair this with a phone, and you can could get limited electronic "telepathy".
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@AmmonRa Morse Code. Takes exactly one pair of electrodes.
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Yeah, it would be possible with Morse code, but I don't think that would ever be the "killer app", I think the encoding is too complex to learn at a non-conscious level, so you'd have to think about decoding it all the time.
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While I am by no means one who is fluent in (or even understands), Morse Code, I do think that with enough practice and time, you would be able to use it subconsciously.I only basis for this is that my cousin's grandfather was a telegraph operator for years. When he would dream, he would actually tap out messages in Morse.Regrettably, no one ever took the time or effort to decode his "dream messages". I would have had utmost interest in just what they contained.As far as the "Killer App", I am not really sure what it would take for the average consumer to want one. It seems like it would be difficult to pass the "novelty factor", and actually make it do something that could only be pulled off elegantly through the use of such a system.
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Sensory improvement would be my first choice. build in sonar capabilities in higher resolution then a ping every time a wave comes back. seeing other spectra. telepathy maybe.
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Chording keyboards might be doable. extra arms would be great. It's pretty far out there probably. I had a really weird sensation happen to me once during a stupid sinus experiment involving electricity that could have killed me. At one point it felt like my head was a plasma globe and I felt a static type sensation whenever things would get closer to me. It seemed to occur in 360°, and was kind of cool while it lasted. I'll be the first to admit that it was probably a weird hallucination and I haven't been able to reproduce it again. But I think it will be possible one day either using Optogenetics or growing new nerves around the skull.
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What if you could augment your bodies appearance with said device?
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