I wonder if this could be used for a truly immersive vr experience.
1. Hook up said implant, convert analog impulse to digital
2. Chemically induce paralysis of the peripheral motor neurons (??)
3. Truly immersive VR experience where participant controls embodied avatar
The sequel to the novel Ready Player One, predictably called Ready Player Two, begins by introducing an OASIS Neural Interface (ONI) headset, which paralyzes the body and directly connects the brain to the OASIS VR. To develop this technology in secret, the creator of the OASIS set up an "Accessibility Research Lab" to develop implants for various categories of disabled people, then moved on to develop the headset.
As a disabled (legally blind) person myself, I had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it felt like we (well, the disabled people in the fictional world) were being used as means to an end. On the other hand, one of my unanswered questions from the first book was what the rise of a VR like the OASIS would mean for people like us; I felt that the second book provided a satisfying answer (in the fictional world, if not in the real one).
To be clear, the sequel was panned, for good reasons IMO. I chose to read it before looking at the reviews. I don't recommend it, but this comment reminded me of it.
The number of bits needed for visual input far outweigh that needed for motor output so I’m not optimistic that it can improve the immersiveness of the experience.
Sword Art Online. An anime about players trapped inside a virtual reality online game. As jcun4128 described, the in-universe headset is much more advanced than what we have now.
It's an older RPG anime about people laying in bed playing a game in a virtual world via a BCI head set. It wasn't like today's VR, their eyes were closed.
yeah, I've been thinking about this for a while. You can do a kind of tomographic reconstruction of neural impulses in the spinal column. By the same token you can induce electric fields within the spinal column.
You need an incredibly high density of electrodes arranged around the spinal column. Then you need to construct in real time an image of the internal spinal column down to the level of fibre bundles, in real time. Then when you want to stimulate something you can apply the correct voltages to the huge numbers of electrodes and induce firing in the target neuron bundles.
Oh and you need to understand how neurons relay information - not actually a solved problem.
It's all possible. Just good luck getting this to work before the year 2100.
But in the back of my mind I have a plan involving flex pcbs...
1. Hook up said implant, convert analog impulse to digital 2. Chemically induce paralysis of the peripheral motor neurons (??) 3. Truly immersive VR experience where participant controls embodied avatar