8/11/2006; 2:32:41 AM

The transparent society gets closer ... or a closeup?
There is a merging of technologies, and the evolution of technologies, that is creating the possiblity of every person becoming a "sensor" that can be used by others. With the Internet, 802.11 wireless, wearable computers, cell phones with cameras, and now embedded cameras ... we'll soon be able to share and broker audible and visual information from anywhere.

This article shows what HP engineers have been up to with embedded cameras in glasses. When coupled with a small computer that has recording capabilities, GPS, and wireless connectivity, we could all be sharing recorded information about almost anything that we experience. If you have not read David Brin's The Transparent Society ... you ought to. We're getting closer and closer ...

8/11/2006; 2:32:43 AM

Man and Machine merging ...
I have continued to read about Kevin Warwick and his work with Cybernetics. He is becoming one of the earths first true Cyborgs. Along with Steve Mann (who I'll post about in the next few days) they are leading the world with this type of research.

In this latest article called "No more talk ... Just think" he is exploring an area that I have discussed with friends for quite some time. If the proper sensors were inserted into the brain, a simple application could be used to learn certain neural firing patterns as you thought, or thought of moving a muscle, etc. Once these patterns were learned, we could assign new ways to communicate the presence of these patterns. So now simply thinking about something could be detected by software, and then that software could trigger any type of action. This puts a very different type of spin on "my ears were burning" ... I might think about my wife, which would trigger the software to send an instant message to my wife. Even further, it might send a message to her cyborg-implant, which would then activate a small heater implanted in her ear. ;-)

With cyborg implants that have visible or non-visible (wireless) communciations you will have whole new ways of communicating ... between humans, and between humans and machines.