What if you could connect to the Internet … just by thinking about it? Sound like science fiction? Perhaps. But a new wave of technology is currently in development that one day—one day relatively soon—could implant a device into your brain to offer direct neural access to the World Wide Web.
In his article “A Chip In The Head: Brain Implants Will Be Connecting People To The Internet By The Year 2020” published at endoftheamericandream.com, author Michael Snyder writes at length about the state of science today when it comes to brain implants and their current and potential capabilities.
Today, more than 100,000 people already have brain implants to treat various medical conditions. And the United States government is funding a $70 million project that involves embedding next-generation implants in the brains of those with epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease. These devices will function like a “brain pacemaker,” helping to regulate these diseases’ symptoms (such as seizures, for instance). Neurologists are also working on similar implants for those suffering from depression. The devices could provide something like an emotional “brain reboot” via implanted electrodes.
But some of those working and dreaming about this technology are already thinking far beyond medical applications—especially some of those at the heart of the information revolution.
Google CEO Larry Page envisions a device that’s plugged straight into your brain offering Internet access. “When you think about something and don’t really know much about it, you will automatically get information. Eventually you’ll have an implant, where if you think about a fact, it will just tell you the answer,” he said in Steven Levy’s book, In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Lives.
Meanwhile, a Computerworld article noted that Intel believes Internet-connected brain implants will be on the market in just six years or so. Computerworld’s Sharon Gaudin writes:
By the year 2020, you won’t need a keyboard and mouse to control your computer, say Intel researchers. Instead, users will open documents and surf the web using nothing more than their brain waves.
Scientists at Intel’s research lab in Pittsburgh are working to find ways to read and harness human brain waves so they can be used to operate computers, television sets and cell phones. The brain waves would be harnessed with Intel-developed sensors implanted in people’s brains.
The scientists say the plan is not a scene from a sci-fi movie, Big Brother won’t be planting chips in your brain against your will. Researchers expect that consumers will want the freedom they will gain by using the implant.
Maybe people will be lining up for these implants, much like they do every time Apple releases a new phone.
Snyder concludes his “A Chip in the Head” article by asking some very pertinent questions about this scientific frontier: “So are you ready for this brave new world? Will you ever let them put a chip in your head?” Certainly, some people would hesitate before biologically and technologically fusing their minds to the Internet, but Snyder believes many won’t bat an eye at the prospect of being quite literally plugged into the web 24/7: “These technologies are being developed right now, and they will be enthusiastically adopted by a large segment of the general public,” he predicts. “At some point in the future, having a brain implant may be as common as it is to use a smart phone today.”
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