#2,228 – Brain Week: Ultrasound BCI

Earlier today I wrote about a new wristband design from Facebook that could serve as a Brain Computer Interface in lieu of a Neuralink like implant. And now comes word of another new technique that is also less invasive than brain surgery: using ultrasound to read intent in the brain.

Futurism explains:

“A new trick uses precise ultrasound imaging — the same kind that lets parents-to-be see their kid before it’s born — to read and even predict activity within the brain.

Scientists at Caltech were able to use ultrasound to listen in as blood sloshed around in different parts of the brain, which they quickly realized was a proxy for which neural regions were active at any given moment, according to an intriguing study published Monday in the journal Neuron. After running the data from a primate study into an algorithm, they also learned that certain patterns of blood flow not only matched but predicted what actions that primate was going to take and when they were going to do it — and there’s no reason it wouldn’t work in people, too…

The use of ultrasound could solve a major problem within the world of neural imaging and brain-computer interfaces. On one hand, we have implants and electrodes that can take extremely precise recordings of the brain, but because they require invasive and potentially harmful brain surgery, they’re only used in extreme cases like for patients with severe epilepsy. On the other hand, we have noninvasive brain imaging tools like functional MRIs or EEG arrays, but those either yield imprecise readings or require massive, nearly room-sized machines.

The ultrasound, however, seems to offer the best of both. Scientists could use it to image the brain down to a scale of 100 nanometers — the size of just ten individual neurons or one human hair — and didn’t need to perform brain surgery to do so.”

Considering how prevalent existing ultrasound technology already is, and how much quicker and easier it is to use than comparable imaging technology, there certainly does seem like there is a lot of potential for this ultrasound based technique to develop further. Whether or not it winds up becoming our primary brain computer interface method of choice in the future remains to be seen but it is an interesting alternative at the very least.

I using Ultrasound the read the brain the Greatest Idea Ever?

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#2,227 – Brain Week: EMG Wristbands

There have long been rumors that Facebook was working on mind reading technology. And while they are working on brain computer interface technology the real use case is a lot more benign than seeing our thoughts; and potentially a whole lot more useful.

The Verge sums it up best:

“Facebook has offered a glimpse inside its plans for a new augmented reality interface, based on technology from CTRL-Labs, the startup it acquired in 2019. In a video, it shows off wristbands that use electromyography (EMG) to translate subtle neural signals into actions — like typing, swiping, or playing games like an archery simulator. The bands also offer haptic feedback, creating a system that’s more responsive than basic hand tracking options.

Facebook Reality Labs published a blog post detailing its work on a prototype of the wristbands. At its simplest, the bands would track basic gestures Facebook calls ‘clicks,’ which are supposed to be reliable and easy to execute. They’re a little bit like the all-purpose Microsoft HoloLens “air tap” gesture but tracked with the nerve signals that run along your arms, rather than visual sensors mounted on a headset.

The bands can theoretically do a lot more, though. For instance, they could track the nerve signals your brain sends to your fingers while you’re typing, so you can type on a virtual keyboard without physical buttons. And unlike a normal keyboard, the bands can slowly adapt to the way you type — so they can “learn” the ways your fingers move when you’re making common typos, then automatically correct for them and capture what you probably meant to type instead.

This would be a huge change in how most people interact with computers, but conceptually, it’s not actually a major update to how CTRL-Labs described its work years ago. In fact, the ultimate possibilities for EMG wristbands are much more mind-bending: eventually, you could perform the same typing-style gestures by thinking about moving your hands instead of actually moving them. Facebook wants to further streamline user interactions by relying on artificial intelligence and augmented reality glasses, which it announced it was working on last year.

Even in their simpler iterations, these controllers would offer an interface that you could wear all the time instead of picking up and holding, like the current Oculus Touch VR controllers. The effect could be similar to smaller startup offerings like the Mudra Band, which senses gestures via an Apple Watch band.

One major new addition is haptics. Facebook says it’s been implementing various prototypes that could give you subtle feedback using different methods. One, the “Bellowband,” has eight pneumatic bellows placed around each wrist. These can be inflated or deflated in patterns that produce distinct sensations. Another is “Tasbi,” which uses vibrating actuators and a “novel wrist squeeze mechanism.” When they’re paired with visual feedback from an AR headset, they can offer a lot of information through a simple and intuitive interface.

Facebook insists that although the band reads neural signals, “this is not akin to mind reading.” Here’s how it explains the concept:

You have many thoughts and you choose to act on only some of them. When that happens, your brain sends signals to your hands and fingers telling them to move in specific ways in order to perform actions like typing and swiping. This is about decoding those signals at the wrist — the actions you’ve already decided to perform — and translating them into digital commands for your device.

CTRL-Labs has still characterized this technology as a brain-computer interface, but it’s a sharp contrast with technologies like Elon Musk’s Neuralink — which reads neural activity directly from the brain through an implant. Implants have unique uses, particularly for people with paralysis or amputated limbs, whose bodies simply can’t send nervous signals to a wristband. But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently criticized implants as a near-term consumer technology, saying that ‘we don’t think that people are going to want to get their head drilled open in order to use virtual or augmented reality.’ Wristbands also don’t have quite the same privacy scare factor as something that reads your thoughts at the source.

That said, the bands will almost certainly be collecting a lot of data. That might include incredibly fine variations in typing patterns; overall levels of bodily tension; and any biometric information captured by fitness tracking sensors, augmented reality glasses, and other tech that could be integrated with the bands.”

For once I actually agree with Mark Zuckerberg, at least when it comes to the merits of a wristband over a brain implant. Making it a very real possibility that these EMG wristbands replace the humble mouse and keyboard and become the next great computing interface. Completely revolutionizing how we interact with our computers and each other along the way.

Are EMG Wristbands the Greatest Idea Ever?

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#2,226 – Brain Week: Brain Cancer Vaccine

As scientists continue to develop COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots to keep up with ever changing variants news comes out of an equally important vaccine in development. One that could target brain cancer.

New Atlas explains:

“In 2015, after years of development and animal testing, the researchers finally began a human trial for their novel IDH1 vaccine. The first step was to investigate how safe the vaccine was in human subjects and explore what kind of immune response it triggered.

Around 33 patients with a newly diagnosed IDH1 glioma were recruited. The recently published results of that Phase 1 trial reveal the experimental vaccine is safe with no serious side effects noted.

Looking at immune responses the researchers found 93 percent of patients displayed an effective response to the vaccine. Immune T cells specifically targeting the IDH1 mutation were detected in those responsive patients.

Patients with large numbers of circulating T cells in their bloodstream also showed tumor pseudoprogression, a process where a tumor grows in size due to invading immune cells causing swelling. At the three-year follow-up point the cohort’s survival rate was 84 percent. No tumor growth was seen in 82 percent of patients displaying strong immunogenic responses to the vaccine after three years.

[Michael] Platten is cautious about overstating the results from this phase 1 trial, saying no further efficacy conclusions can be made without larger trials and a control group. He does note a further phase 1 trial is already underway combining the experimental vaccine with checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy, which is known to enhance immune system activity. The hope is the combination treatment will amplify immune responses.”

While it’s still early this is certainly good news. Hopefully, it means that we could one day add one more vaccine to our arsenal.

Is a Brain Cancer Vaccine the Greatest Idea Ever?

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#2,225 – Brain Week: Project Debater

Once IBM’s Watson beat human competitors on Jeopardy there was always the question of what it would do next. Working in the healthcare system to give second opinions on diagnoses always seemed like the obvious answer. As well as working in the legal field or simply becoming a tool that any business could access. But what about beyond that? What was the next evolution of not only Watson, but of the entire AI field? Well, we may finally have our answer. In the form of a new system capable of engaging and besting humans in debate.

Techxplore sums it up best:

“IBM has developed an artificial intelligence-based system designed to engage in debates with humans. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the team members describe their system and how well it performed when pitted against human opponents. Chris Reed with the University of Dundee has published a News & Views piece in the same journal issue outlining the history and development of AI technology based around the types of logic used in human arguments and the new system developed by IBM.

As Reed notes, debating is a skill humans have been honing for thousands of years. It is generally considered to be a type of discussion in which one or more people attempt to persuade others that their opinion on a topic is right. In this new effort, the team at IBM has created an AI system designed to debate with humans in a live setting. It listens to moderators and opponents and responds in a female voice.

In most debates, people presenting an argument tend to cite others who can back up their claims. They may note prior research, or quote well-known phrases used by people respected in the field of argument. The IBM system, known simply as Project Debater, scans the internet for such arguments and uses them in ways that it has learned are convincing.

Most debates also generally involve the participants attempting to shoot down the arguments of their opponent. To carry out such tasks, Project Debater uses Watson, the IBM system that beat contestants on the game show ‘Jeopardy,’ to listen to the arguments given by opponents and then searches for rebuttals that have been given by others to similar claims.

IBM began testing the system back in 2019, when it participated in a debate with Harish Natarajan, an expert debater. Those in attendance agreed that Project Debater did not beat Natarajan, but the same audience also agreed that it did very well. In a later test, Project Debater was asked to convince a panel of viewers that telemedicine was a good idea. Most of those on the panel found that the AI system did indeed change their stance on the topic—a possible indication that AI systems may one day soon play a role in human debates such as those that occur on social media sites.”

Oratory skills were revered back in the day of Socrates. Now, not so much since a lot of our cognition has been offloaded to our phones and computers. But perhaps in an ironic twist that same technology could bring oration back to the forefront again thanks to all the doors that an AI based debate system would open. I especially love the idea of tying this tech into social media, as the ultimate fact check, getting people to question their assumptions and defend the statements they would normally pass off as being factual without even reading them first. For instance, imagine having to win a debate with Project Debater before you could even post something? Get shot down and sorry, but no soup for you!

I never participated in debate club but considering how much I love to argue and give opinions I probably should have. Soon I may get my chance against an AI opponent. Soon we all might get our chance.

Is Project Debater the Greatest Idea Ever?

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#2,224 – Brain Week: Heartfelt

If you’re still stuck in isolation you probably wish that you could just reach out and touch somebody but unfortunately that’s still not possible for some people. But thankfully there’s now a technological solution that can help us stay closely connected to one another: a hand-held device that lets you feel someone else’s body temperate.

Yanko Design explains:

“The idea for Heartfelt was born after one of the designers attended a virtual funeral of a family member during lockdown. Realizing that the physical separation affected the grieving process and prevented people from really emotionally connecting and healing together, designers Gayle Lee and Jessica Vea began working on Heartfelt, a device that added a physical element to the now-commonly used phrase ‘sending virtual hugs’.

Heartfelt works across long distances, and in pairs. It comes in the shape of a heart, and works when you hold it with both hands. Place your thumb onto the indentations and they light up in red and blue to notify the other person. When both people hold their Heartfelt devices at the same time, the hearts warm-up, creating the warmth associated with hugging someone. ‘While video-calling helps, most people seem to miss the warmth that a physical hug brings, and we hope to somehow reproduce that comforting feeling’, say Gayle and Jessica. Sensors within both Heartfelt devices will read your body’s current temperature, letting the opposite person feel ‘your warmth’ based on your body temperature. The hearts will even gently pulsate, allowing you to really connect with the person on the other side of the device, and the soft, skin-like outer material will give you the impression of actually hugging another person.

The technology within Heartfelt isn’t new, but its application comes at a critical time when social disconnection is at an all-time high. While modern-day technology allows us to see and listen to each other, Heartfelt was designed to build actual connections, share emotions, and be vulnerable around each other by focusing on the one thing social media and the internet today can’t do… enabling physical proximity. When used together, Heartfelt devices help people connect, heal, and de-stress naturally by enabling the brain to release endorphins, or the ‘happy hormones’ associated with physical contact.”

Pandemic aside this is a kind of “sex tech” device that could become popular in the future, say for people in long distance relationships, so that they can stay connected with one another even when apart. Meaning it’s likely that Heartfelt and similar devices are here to stay long after COVID is gone.

Is Heartfelt the Greatest Idea Ever?

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#2,223 – Brain Week: Lumenate

I’ve been intrigued by the idea of meditation for quite some time now. After all, having the ability to unlock deeper states of consciousness and form new creative connections could be a real game-changer for a deep thinker like myself. But I’ve been hesitant to try Transcendental Meditation and have adamantly ruled out taking any psychedelics or even weed. But there’s a new approach on the horizon that could make it easy for me to finally experience an altered state: a new smart phone app known as Lumenate that uses pulsating light to achieve the desired effects of more traditional methods.

Forbes explains:

“The Lumenate app uses the phone’s flashlight to create stroboscopic light sequences that neurologically guide the user into an altered state of consciousness between deep meditation and classic psychedelics.

Tom Galea and Jay Conlon, the founders of Lumenate, met while studying engineering at the University of Liverpool. After graduation and a stint designing concept cars for Jaguar Land Rover, they left the corporate world with a mission to help people live freer and more fulfilling lives. After interviewing hundreds of people from around the world to better understand the concept of fulfillment, Conlon and Galea became fascinated with the idea that a spark of inspiration could have a profound impact on a person’s life.

That realization led the two entrepreneurs to research how subconscious exploration could help facilitate such inspiration. But Galea and Conlon soon recognized that existing methods of exploring the subconscious, including years of mediation training or emerging psychedelic therapies, have significant barriers to accessibility. After discussions with leading psychedelic experts and hundreds of EEG brain-scanning experiments, they developed a research-based method to use light and sound to guide the user’s brain into the desired state.

When light is flashed in a specific way, it causes the neurons in the brain to react and fire in a synchronized rhythm that safely guides the brain into a deeply meditative, semi-psychedelic state of consciousness. The result is ‘an instant and effortless way to explore your subconscious,’ Conlon says in a virtual interview with the pair from Bristol, England.

Lumenate’s original business plan relied on a prototype light and sound system for public group experiences. But when the Covid-19 pandemic led to a UK-wide lockdown after only one event, that plan was no longer workable. The need for an accessible method of subconscious exploration, however, seemed even greater.

‘We quickly realized that with mental health at the forefront of everyone’s minds, what we were developing could now be more relevant and genuinely helpful than ever before,’ says Conlon.

Galea and Conlon spent an intense lockdown acquiring and applying the skills necessary to develop the Lumenate experience into a smartphone app. The result, Conlon says, ‘left us with a solution that meets our vision even better than before.'”

I’d say. Now all I have to do is muster up the courage to try it.

Is Lumenate the Greatest Idea Ever?

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#2,222 – Carnerie

Impossible Burger has kicked off the fake meat revolution leading to plans for fake steak, chicken, seafood and everything else you can imagine. And while the taste and texture is not quite exactly like the real thing it’s close and getting closer by the day. If it can get all the way there it could go a long way towards decreasing our dependency on meat and the resulting negative environmental impact that it has wrought.

In fact, in the future we may even get to the point where we grow meat in our own kitchens. Thanks to cultured cells that get delivered to us and then get processed in a special device known as Carnerie. For now it’s just a conceptual design but one that is likely to come to fruition at the rate we’re going.

Yanko Design explains:

“FAO has proven that over 25% of the world’s land use is used for animal grazing/growing feed. In fact, 60% of global biodiversity loss and 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions are a result of meat farming and consumption. While the more sustainable option will be to switch to a plant-based diet, many are unable to make that change while still wanting to reduce emissions. To solve the inner conflict humans face as well as help the environment in the process, Turner designed Carnerie – a conceptual device that will let you grow your own meat in the future!

Cultured meat is the process of growing meat from cells extracted from animals. Many experts believe that cultured meat offers us the opportunity to produce meat with significantly reduced environmental impacts and without slaughtering animals. The technology is being rapidly developed across the world and is beginning to be introduced to some high-end restaurants but there has been discussion about whether one day we may be able to grow our own meat from animal cells in our own kitchens. Carnerie is a ‘grow your own meat’ device for around twenty years in the future. It is controlled by an app, whereby the user is able to order cell capsules from local farms in order to grow a variety of different types of meat. This conceptual, speculative project is designed to help us visualize what this future scenario could be like and whether it’s a future that we would buy into.”

It definitely sounds like a future that I would want to buy into. What about you?!

Is Carnerie the Greatest Idea Ever?

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#2,221 – Swiss Cheese Offices

When we finally return to the work place it may be a whole lot quieter thanks to a newly created noise cancelling technique.

Fast Company explains:

“The secret to quieter rooms and offices may be hiding inside a bottle.

Or really, many bottles. A new prototype sound absorption technique developed through a partnership between the Seattle-based architecture firm NBBJ and acoustics researchers at the University of Washington shows that the shape of empty bottles is highly effective at reducing noise. If embedded inside buildings or wooden panels, the narrow necks and wide empty cavities inside bottles could serve as architectural sound traps.

By tuning these forms to resonate with specific acoustical wavelengths—particularly the low frequencies of human speech—ceiling or wall panels pierced with Swiss cheese-like holes can capture and neutralize noise. Tests of prototypes inside NBBJ’s office measured noise reductions of around 13 decibels, or about the equivalent of wearing noise-canceling headphones. In terms of the perception of noise in the space, that’s a 60% reduction.”

My office has always notoriously loud and it’s well documented that I hate all sounds so this new technique is certainly welcome news as far as I’m concerned. Hopefully, it even makes its way into my office in the near future.

Is this new noise cancelling technique the Greatest Idea Ever?

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#2,220 – Tales From The Crypto: BitClout

I’m a terrible investor. Sure, I’ve had my fair share of successful stock purchases (like Tesla) but my investments in rare earth materials, graphene, and 3-D printing were not as fruitful. On the other hand I’m a pretty good fantasy football and baseball player. Able to put all of my useless knowledge about sports statistics to good use. Which is why I’ve always wished that there was a way to treat players like stocks. To be able to buy and sell them based on a contrived real world value. The idea has been mentioned before by others as well but has never materialized at scale. Yet the idea of being able to monetize one’s self persists. Especially when we move from talking about athletes to artists, from ball fields to the battle grounds on social media platforms.

After all, shouldn’t the artists, influencers, creators, and trend setters driving traffic on sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Clubhouse, and Snapchat be rewarded for building their brands and turning their side hustles into full-time gigs? Of course they should but that’s not always easy to pull off, with the platforms themselves profiting the most from all this free labor.

Thankfully, there may be a solution on the way. One that combine my desire to buy/sell stocks of real people with the desire of these people to monetize their own self-worth. Thanks to a new blockchain based social media platform known as BitClout. There’s just one problem. Not everyone is happy about the possibility. Especially since it’s happening without their permission.

Axios sums it up best:

“Why it matters: BitClout has divided even the industry’s top investors, with some openly backing it in hopes it’s the next social-media-on-the-blockchain success, while others are staying far away.

• The cap table includes some of the biggest names like Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase Ventures, Winklevoss Capital and a host of celebrities.
• Still, some are very wary. You can currently put bitcoin into the site but you can’t withdraw it. The project’s lead founder says his well-connected backers might help exchange listings materialize soon.

How it works: BitClout takes the profiles of popular Twitter personalities and ascribes a dollar value to their output. Participants can then buy and sell various “Creator Coins” with bitcoin (and ideally profit).

• At the top of the pack is Elon Musk, whose unclaimed profile on the site is commanding $70,825 per token. A run-of-the-mill crypto influencer is fetching around $500. (Chamath Palihapitiya, who briefly flirted with running for California’s governorship, appears to be the priciest claimed account at $42,820 per token.)

Yes, but: No one gave permission for their Twitter brands to be monetized.

• While BitClout’s pseudonymous founder, Diamondhands, told CoinDesk’s Brady Dale that the site ‘creates innovative ways for creators to monetize’ and provides ‘a new business model that’s not ad-driven anymore,’ this argument has been unpersuasive to many prominent members of the crypto industry, who are generally salty about their Twitter profiles being scraped (and monetized) without their consent.”

Clearly, there are some issues here as using someone’s likeness without their permission is definitely not going to fly. But even if BitClout doesn’t survive their founding concept might. At some point in the near future, thanks to the NFT craze and the power of the Blockchain it’s likely that creators will be able to monetize their reputations while regular folk like you and me get to invest in our favorite online personalities. And if that’s true it’ll be a long time coming.

Is BitClout the Greatest Idea Ever?

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#2,219 – The Pfizer Plan

Last night I got my first vaccination shot courtesy of Pfizer. Now, on the one hand this is obviously great news. Being vaccinated is a hell of a lot better than not being vaccinated. But I’m still conflicted about how to live my life.

You see, I’ve been hell bent this whole time on not getting COVID-19 at all, under any circumstances. Not even a mild case. For me, it’s never been just about surviving the pandemic. It’s been about ensuring that I never get any side effects either, never have to deal with Long Hauler symptoms, never get neurological symptoms, never have any fall out whatsoever.

The problem with that approach, aside from the fact that I’ve literally driven myself crazy while enduring extreme isolation (I now have anxiety) is that it’s not a very practical approach. There’s a very real chance that COVID-19 never goes away. Instead becoming something that we have to deal with every year with annual shots like a more extreme version of the flu. Which is problematic for my preferred approach of staying completely locked down until COVID is completely eradicated since that may never happen. So, am I really never going to travel again? Never see my friends again? Never date again? Avoid all other people at all costs for the rest of time?!

Obviously not. There’s no way to sustain that. At some point I’d have to return to society, start taking more chances, doing more things, seeing more people. Sure, I’d have the peace of mind of knowing that even if I got COVID I would survive it and not even have any risk of hospitalization thanks to the fact that I’m vaccinated but still there’s no guarantees. Even vaccinated I could still get it and get really sick or die. And there’s still the issue of new variants running wild that could negate the vaccine all together or require a new one to be administered. As far as I’m concerned just getting vaccinated now doesn’t really mean anything. We still have a long way to go before we’re actually truly safe. Before we’re at the point where someone ultra conservative like myself would be willing to admit that the coast is finally clear.

Thankfully, Pfizer has a plan to get us there. A multi-pronged approach to ensure that we cover all of our bases.

The Hill explains:

“Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has kicked off early stage clinical trials of an experimental oral antiviral drug to treat COVID-19. 

The company announced on Tuesday the phase one trial of the drug, PF-07321332, is currently taking place in the U.S. 

The treatment is a potent protease inhibitor, the same kind of technology used to treat HIV and hepatitis C. Protease inhibitors bind to a viral enzyme and prevent the virus from replicating in the cell.

Pfizer said preclinical studies showed the oral antiviral ‘demonstrated potent in vitro anti-viral activity against SARS-CoV-2, as well as activity against other coronaviruses.’ That means the treatment could be useful against future coronavirus threats. 

‘Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic requires both prevention via vaccine and targeted treatment for those who contract the virus. Given the way that SARS-CoV-2 is mutating and the continued global impact of COVID-19, it appears likely that it will be critical to have access to therapeutic options both now and beyond the pandemic,’ Mikeal Dolsten, Pfizer chief scientific officer, said in a statement. 

Dolsten said the oral therapy could be prescribed to a patient at the first sign of infection, without requiring they be hospitalized or in critical care. 

Pfizer is also studying an intravenous antiviral therapy to treat COVID-19 that is being used in a clinical trial involving hospitalized patients.

‘Together, the two have the potential to create an end to end treatment paradigm that complements vaccination,’ Dolsten said.” 

To recap, this means that in addition to getting vaccinated to hopefully avoid any contraction of COVID-19 at all we’d also have a pill to take immediately upon infection if one does occur to prevent hospitalizations as well as a way to treat those people who were neither effectively vaccinated or treated with the pill once they are in the hospital. Ensuring complete coverage for all aspects of COVID-19.

This is absolutely incredible news and if proven successful would completely put to rest all of my fears. Because in addition to being vaccinated I’d also have the peace of mind of knowing that there are additional treatment options in the event that anything bad does happen to me.

Thank you Pfizer!!! Thank you science!!!

Pfizer is working on a COVID pill as well.

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