Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Eureka! Keeping naked people off the streets since 1999.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                     

Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register. Please log in or create an account.

Whole-Body VCR

Record and play back sensory stimuli!
 
(+2, -2)
  [vote for,
against]

I propose an invention that can capture all 5 sensations and record them. It could then play these sensations back whenever you decide to relive the experience. You could select only certain senses and/or certain body parts to be affected. For example, you might only want to see something again. Alternatively, you might just want to hear or taste something again.

I wonder if the entire body's electrical network uses pulses of the Fourier genre. It would then be possible (using Fourier calculus) to create new experiences and then allow them to be experienced. I believe it has already been discovered that brainwaves in the visual cortex are of the Fourier genre.

Anyway, I'd like your input on this.

VeXaR, Jun 24 2001

Brainstorm http://www.lightviews.com/brainstorm.htm
They made a film about this. It involved people being recorded having sex and even dying. It makes an excellent double feature with "Altered States". [Aristotle, Jun 24 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Cyborg guy http://www.wired.co...e/8.02/warwick.html
This guy put an implant in his arm and if i remember correctly could do exactly what you are preposing to do.. [timbong, Jun 24 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

(?) Kevin Warwick Watch http://www.kevinwarwick.org.uk/
Not updated in ages, but gives a fair overview of the Warwick self-publicity machine. [-alx, Jun 24 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

[link]






       Wasn't this in Strange Days (sort of)?
mrkillboy, Jun 24 2001
  

       Yes, it's a common Science Fiction device.   

       It mistakes nerve stimulation for experience, and it ignores differences between people's brains and nerve layouts.   

       I'd mark this a WIBNI, but I'm sure that it'll just be reposted, just like the infinite number of dream recorders and replay devices next door.   

       I need explained what Fourier has to do with anything here.
jutta, Jun 24 2001
  

       I believe Fourier calculus is integral to the idea. In the late seventies, there was some research done that showed that the brainwaves in the visual cortex were of the Fourier genre. In other words, they represented Fourier transforms of the image. Fourier calculus allows one to transform a 3D-image into waves resembling the interference patterns of a hologram (they are also of the Fourier genre.) In fact, it is possible to decode a hologram into a 3D image without lasers using nothing more than Fourier calculus. Therefore, if you wanted to make someone see a bird for example, you would apply a form of Fourier transform on the image, and feed that into the visual cortex.   

       Now what does this have to do with recording the experience in the first place? Well, I think the most difficult aspect is discovering where in the brain one sees/hears things in the real world. If one applied realtime Fourier-transforms of the world around the subject, and looked for those precise patterns in the brain, I think those areas could be quickly located.
VeXaR, Jun 27 2001
  

       I could be wrong, but I suspect [VeXaR] is BS-ing.
angel, Jun 28 2001
  

       VeXaR: The locations in the brain where sight and sound are processed have been known for quite a long time (you remember when you referred to the visual cortex?). How do you plan to feed the data into the brain? I'd recommend sending visual data via the eyes.
sirrobin, Jul 02 2001
  

       Its baked, checkout the link to the wired article
timbong, Aug 17 2001
  

       [timbong] All Kevin Warwick's managed is to stick a chip in his arm that transmits a signal saying where he is. His real talent lies in self-publicity, and playing up experiments he says he plans to do but has yet to put into action.
-alx, Aug 17 2001
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle