Lifeboat Foundation

An experiment by University of Washington researchers is setting the stage for advances in mind reading technology. Using brain implants and sophisticated software, researchers can now predict what their subjects are seeing with startling speed and accuracy.

The ability to view a two-dimensional image on a page or computer screen, and then transform that image into something our minds can immediately recognize, is a neurological process that remains mysterious to scientists. To learn more about how our brains perform this task—and to see if computers can collect and predict what a person is seeing in real time—a research team led by University of Washington neuroscientist Rajesh Rao and neurosurgeon Jeff Ojermann demonstrated that it’s possible to decode human brain signals at nearly the speed of perception. The details of their work can be found in a new paper in PLOS Computational Biology.

The team sought the assistance of seven patients undergoing treatment for epilepsy. Medications weren’t helping alleviate their seizures, so these patients were given temporary brain implants, and electrodes were used to pinpoint the focal points of their seizures. The UW researchers saw this as an opportunity to perform their experiment. “They were going to get the electrodes no matter what,” noted Ojermann in a UW NewsBeat article. “We were just giving them additional tasks to do during their hospital stay while they are otherwise just waiting around.”

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When the consumers (who happen to be your primary customer) of your product doesn’t seem to be fully aware of your product; then you have indeed a broken product marketing and launch awareness program. And, if industry is also part of that picture; you may have an even bigger challenge.

After our latest US consumer research in October 2015, we wanted to find out if the trends we were seeing in the survey data held for a larger, more international pool. In December, we surveyed over 1,000 respondents throughout the United Kingdom about their awareness of virtual reality, interest in purchasing headsets and trying applications, and their concerns.

With everyone from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to analysts at Goldman Sachs boldly claiming VR as the next computing platform, we believe it is critical strategic decision makers — product managers, marketers, and investors alike — better understand the industry’s potential early adopters and what they really want from our industry.

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Finally, folks are getting the real picture around re-tooling and retraining folks for new jobs in an oncoming AI future. In my posts; I have highlighted the need for governments and businesses to retrain people as well as ensure that their is some level of funding established to assist displaced workers, and especially as we see the maturity of Quantum in the AI space this will definitely be a must.

“If every tool, when ordered, or even of its own accord, could do the work that befits it… then there would be no need either of apprentices for the master workers or of slaves for the lords.” – Aristotle.

Humans have such a love/hate relationship with technology that it’s almost comical. All of our own creation, once we’ve perfected amazing innovations, we often turn on them–when convenient. As the PC became common and marketed toward the masses in the 80s, a new world of automation, both good and bad, was predicted. As mad scientists tucked away in secret, underground labs began creating evil robots in a slew of sci-fi movies that we consumed greedily, along with becoming affectionate toward machines like C-3P0 and R2-D2 just birthed in what would be a continuing pop subculture with a momentum of its own, our imaginations ran wild. Fearmongers cited that automation would make many jobs obsolete; robots would begin doing what was left as an economic apocalypse ensued for the human race.

Continue reading “World Economic Forum Report: Existing Workforce Must Prepare, Re-Skill & Up-Skill for Impending Fourth Industrial Revolution” »

At this rate of making machines to behave and interact like humans; we may end up with a world with some really messed up robots.

A new database will gauge progress in artificial intelligence, as computers try to grasp what’s going on in scenes shown in photographs.

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On a mire humerous note:
AI and particularly robots; can easily pick up on people’s patterns/ styles to the point where they can write your speeches and possibly develop your PowerPoint presentations. Procrastinators will no longer have to stress about pulling their slides together, interns will have more availability to work on projects, and politicians will sound like a pro with this robot.

BTW — the robot in this articile was so good at mimicking the politician; that the robot (just the politician) in the speech kept thanking everyone in the chamber after it yielded time back to the speaker. Maybe our politicians will start sending their robots to vote for them in the future.

Computer researchers have created programs that can do the job quite nicely, explains Brian Fung.

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A robot manipulated by a glove & it only cost them $150 USD.

Computer engineering students Mohammad Zyoud, Mohammad Atiyyeh and Suhaib Tawafsheh spent eight months working on the self-funded project which cost them around 150 USD.”

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Definitely, we’re already seeing the research releases on microbots.

A famed futurist who foresees a day when and human and artificial intelligence merge and nanobots battle disease spoke to CBC’s Duncan McCue about what lies ahead.

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Interesting; “Human memory is not the same as computer memory,” said James Kozloski.

An inventor at IBM has patented technology for a cognitive assistant that could learn all about you, then remind you of a name you can’t remember the moment you need to say it.

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Artificial intelligence researchers at Google DeepMind are celebrating after reaching a major breakthrough that’s been pursued for more than 20 years: The team taught a computer program the ancient game of Go, which has long been considered the most challenging game for an an artificial intelligence to learn. Not only can the team’s program play Go, it’s actually very good at it.

The computer program AlphaGo was developed by Google DeepMind specifically with the task of beating professional human players in the ancient game. The group challenged the three-time European Go Champion Fan Hui to a series of matches, and for the first time ever, the software was able to beat a professional player in all five of the games played on a full-sized board. The team announced the breakthrough in a Nature article published today.

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