With approval from the Food and Drug Administration, a company called Cyberkinetics Inc. is planning a clinical trial of a system in which a tiny microchip will be implanted in the brains of five paralyzed people so they can operate a computer by thought alone. (Several research groups have already implanted devices in monkeys, allowing them to control cursors on computer screens or move robot arms using their brainpower alone.) CalTech neuroscientist Richard A. Andersen says, "Among many people in the field, there's a feeling now that the time is here for moving the technology to test in humans." To implant the chip, a small hole will be cut in the patient's skull, and the chip will be placed on the surface of the brain at the motor cortex, which controls movement. (New York Times 13 Apr 2004) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/13/health/13BRAI.html (From News Scan Daily)
Boy Do I Need This!Researchers Roberto Cipolla and Duncan Robertson at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. are developing photo recognition software that one day may help provide navigationally challenged travelers information on their location and how to get to where they're going. The user simply snaps a photo of a nearby building and presses send. A database matches the photo to a database of building images, and can accurately identify where the caller is standing to within one meter. This is superior technology to GPS or cell phone base station tracking systems, which are useless in cities with tall buildings interfere with direct line-of-sight transmissions. "Telling people 'You are in the vicinity of X' is no good to man nor beast," says John Craig of Cambridge Positioning Systems, which develops software for locating mobile phones. The Cambridge University software would give detailed instructions on how to get from point A to point B, such as "turn left and start walking." Cipolla and Robertson are currently working on a prototype that will cover all the buildings in Cambridge's central downtown area. (New Scientist 10 Apr 2004) http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994857