@snakepliskin: Well it would have to be a planted thought. Nobody would come up with that on their own.

qbrad

This would be so freakin' awesome. If everyone could read everyone's thoughts every injustice in the world would come to an end. Psycho killers wouldn't kill because they would be too afraid that someone might hear their thoughts and bust them. I wouldn't be able to look at a fat chick and laugh on the inside because I would be too afraid that someone might read my mind and feel disgust for it. You wouldn't have to worry about not knowing if you're "picking up the right signals" from that cute girl across the bar.
So what's the downside? Oh yeah, the government would know that I haven't paid for a CD since -99. Oh shi-

We are one step closer to becoming the Borg.

easy2panic

this would be soooo perfect for blind people!!! wait!... i meant paraplegic people... taht wasn't it... DEAF AND MUTE PEOPLE!!! that was it, haha!

Crispus

What? I said "VACUUM".

ripfire

Would have saved that guy in The Butterfly and the Diving Bell a hell of a lot of work. And a sprained eyelid muscle.

craighyatt

*Wraps metal colander in tinfoil*
*superglues to head*

mferrari

I mean, really. It would be

--Hey, Curves! Stop that! I can hear you rattling around inside my brain--

would be just as if the world

--OK, now you are just embarrassing me, Curves! I've already told you I am BUSY this Saturday night. Jeez!--

the world...crap, now I've totally forgot what I was going to say.

bosskev

will this be done with hardware installed in our brains or software matrix style?

Wow, think about it, everybody hearing everybody else's thoughts. It would be like everyone talking all at once, with their thoughts trampling all over your thoughts, but few people paying any real attention to anything pertinent, all frequently ending up in a total derailment of meaningful conversation.

Kind of like Gizmodo at times.

OT: -36

bosskev

I think gizmodo just telepathically gave me an overwhelming urge to want to bang helen hunt.

snakepliskin

I know what youre thinking......

Curves

"Might even help you cut down on your minutes", eh? No doubt, this will be priced like text messages and will cost 15 cents per thought message. "A penny for your thoughts?" Not anymore.

LandShark

Thats scary stuff. And would be kinda weird... imagine watching two people using it, it'd be like they're are staring at each other.

I imagine that this would have to have a very specific target to send a message. Otherwise we would end up getting spam beamed directly into our heads 24/7. This could be revenge of the nerds though. Just think really really hard at that bully and knock him out with your brain power.

Best picture ever.

hanswurst0815

Hmmm, this reminds me of Demolition Man. Mind Sex, FTL.

i think this is BS... a total waste of money that could be used for more realistic things... just mi opinion... i may be wrong...

I don't understand why this would have to be done in such a complicated manner. I remember several months ago, someone demoed a system that worked off subvocalization. It measured muscle response in your throat, and fairly accurately (after training) could pick up speech without the talker making noise. Wire it up to a radio and a headset (or even a cochlear implant) and you have voiceless, hands free communication right now.

Of course, this could just be a front to perform research intended for an alternate use.

invisibility yesterday, telepathy today? F*ck me we're living in the future.

malcs

THE FUTURE IS NOW!

UofITom

"Would it be worth it to you to read everyone's thoughts if everyone could read yours?"

/me grabs his tinfoil hat

Bonkuro

"Ghost in the Shell"-style cybercomms, here we come.

Rhainor

tinfoil hat for me too! pleaze

pharago

Tech releases from military sources are supposed to be 20 to 40 years behind the capabilities of what they have in use now, makes one wonder what they have for themselves in secret.

NoStyle

wow....if only the girls really new what i thought....

oh wait...ah shit lol

OK, hasn't the military ALREADY spent millions of our tax dollars on this already?? What ever happened to all of the research that went into a pilot being able to control airplanes with thought processes?? No, I don't mean Firefox, however, there WAS a lot of research done in this arena. Stop wasting my tax dollars!!

Kevin

This is offensive for mel gibson fans everywhere.

bobvilla

Man, I had this idea when I was a kid: Make a two-way radio small enough to implant in the skull. The tricky part is the interface with the brain - and having to stand near an AC outlet everyday to recharge the battery.

Barcard

@snakepliskin: I'm with you, holy crap she looks good in that picture.

saint88

Mel Gibson has fans?

parliamentpoet

Remember that Star Trek TNG episode with the computerized aliens that take over the Enterprise? And Picard uses a horse saddle to defeat them?

This is so the tech those aliens were using. Where their brains were communicating at hyper speed but their conscience wasn't "aware" of what their brains were talking about because the communication was going so fast.

Lupison

and it there's a bug in the code, does that mean the blue screen of death actually kills you?

craighyatt

May I bury my face in your a** - is the thought that comes to mind watching Helen Hunt.

JJ910

Here's a scenario where synthetic telepathy exists...

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin invites George Bush to his house.

George Bush thinks about having sex about Vladimir's wife.

World War 3 begins an hour later...

The-Joker

I wonder how much they've thought this through (excuse the pun). I mean, if we have this technology AND the enemy has this technology, it might make torturing secrets out of a soldier a quick procedure. Just a thought.

Theravada