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This weekend I was visiting my girlfriend in Oxfordshire, when I happened to be engrossed in an article in the Reading sunday newspaper. It featured Professor Warwick, a professor in cybernetics at the University of Reading. What he had endured and managed to achieve astounded me with respect to modern technology and the future....
Professor Warwick had endured a limb threatening operation on his arm in the name of science. He had a series of microprobes surgically embedded into the median nerve of his arm. The device contained one hundred probes each positioned with exact precision within synapses of his nerve. Synapses for those who don't know are gap junctions in the nerve where the nervous impulse is transmitted chemically. The device can basically be connected up to computer equipment and the results of the nervous transmission seen.
So what? You may ask, so what if he can measure the electrical activity in a nerve in his arm.... Well Professor Warwick had been able to ascertain emotional trends in the patterns decoded by the computer. He had made a statement that emotions can be trapped within the median nerve. In general terms he had programmed his computer to go from electrical signals to emotional responses. Thus his computer was able to tell him what emotions he was experiencing and the extent of said emotions.
Truly radical stuff, with huge knock-on effects in terms of the future. Imagine being able to visualise not just your own, but other peoples emotions around you. You will truly be able to know what someone is feeling.... This could truly revolutionise the nightclub/dating process! In the future, could we actually see such technology being used in everyday life? Could it even stretch to accomodate the gaming world?
Well the answer would have to be yes. If in the future we could all be fitted with such a device on our arms. How long would it possibly take for a games console to evolve with a facility to plug the device into the the console? Imagine the game responding to your emotions. Imagine the computer picking up fear in the player, and thus delivering a huge great scary monster on the screen.... The possibilities would be endless, a computer interacting with our emotions.
I accept that this is truly a wonderous concept, but am I talking out of my backside? Probably, it would no doubt be many many years away before such technology becomes plausible. But the potential still holds. Moreso if we now have the technology to decipher emotions, how long will it take for the process to be reversed? How long will it be before the computer actually makes us feel emotions at the touch of a key? This really would revolutionise gaming, because now the computer can control not just what we see and hear, but literally what we feel. Truly immersive games could be produced using that concept. The Final Fantasy series would not be same again! This time round we will actually be really scared of the boss, or we are actually in love with the girl we are rescuing!
It must be stressed however that such a concept would not be welcomed with open-arms. Emotions are a part of our lives that we really want to keep to ourselves. No doubt nobody would want to broadcast how they are feeling, nor would anyone want to fall in love because a few lines of code told them too. Plus we cannot discount a few games developers taking the power for granting and altering peoples psychological status. I mean games like GTA3 are already controversial, imagine if they did actually make people want to go out and steal cars....
The mystifying world of our human emotions are in the process of being discovered. But how far will science go in the hunt for knowledge of the human body? Are some things there just not meant to be messed around with? Or is this a great achievement? However I can say with no doubt in my mind that this is a truly remarkable scientific discovery.
Professor Warwick had endured a limb threatening operation on his arm in the name of science. He had a series of microprobes surgically embedded into the median nerve of his arm. The device contained one hundred probes each positioned with exact precision within synapses of his nerve. Synapses for those who don't know are gap junctions in the nerve where the nervous impulse is transmitted chemically. The device can basically be connected up to computer equipment and the results of the nervous transmission seen.
So what? You may ask, so what if he can measure the electrical activity in a nerve in his arm.... Well Professor Warwick had been able to ascertain emotional trends in the patterns decoded by the computer. He had made a statement that emotions can be trapped within the median nerve. In general terms he had programmed his computer to go from electrical signals to emotional responses. Thus his computer was able to tell him what emotions he was experiencing and the extent of said emotions.
Truly radical stuff, with huge knock-on effects in terms of the future. Imagine being able to visualise not just your own, but other peoples emotions around you. You will truly be able to know what someone is feeling.... This could truly revolutionise the nightclub/dating process! In the future, could we actually see such technology being used in everyday life? Could it even stretch to accomodate the gaming world?
Well the answer would have to be yes. If in the future we could all be fitted with such a device on our arms. How long would it possibly take for a games console to evolve with a facility to plug the device into the the console? Imagine the game responding to your emotions. Imagine the computer picking up fear in the player, and thus delivering a huge great scary monster on the screen.... The possibilities would be endless, a computer interacting with our emotions.
I accept that this is truly a wonderous concept, but am I talking out of my backside? Probably, it would no doubt be many many years away before such technology becomes plausible. But the potential still holds. Moreso if we now have the technology to decipher emotions, how long will it take for the process to be reversed? How long will it be before the computer actually makes us feel emotions at the touch of a key? This really would revolutionise gaming, because now the computer can control not just what we see and hear, but literally what we feel. Truly immersive games could be produced using that concept. The Final Fantasy series would not be same again! This time round we will actually be really scared of the boss, or we are actually in love with the girl we are rescuing!
It must be stressed however that such a concept would not be welcomed with open-arms. Emotions are a part of our lives that we really want to keep to ourselves. No doubt nobody would want to broadcast how they are feeling, nor would anyone want to fall in love because a few lines of code told them too. Plus we cannot discount a few games developers taking the power for granting and altering peoples psychological status. I mean games like GTA3 are already controversial, imagine if they did actually make people want to go out and steal cars....
The mystifying world of our human emotions are in the process of being discovered. But how far will science go in the hunt for knowledge of the human body? Are some things there just not meant to be messed around with? Or is this a great achievement? However I can say with no doubt in my mind that this is a truly remarkable scientific discovery.
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What you need to do that is a multi-usable peripheral. The wheels are supported by so many games- fishing rods are not. That's the reason that the choice is limitted- who's gonna pay £70 for a game and add on for EVERY game? (COUGH Lylat Wars COUGH).
So, the sword controller can be a fishing rod, but not much more. You need more functionality!
So, the sword controller can be a fishing rod, but not much more. You need more functionality!
Excellent idea, why can games developers at least not design peripherals that mimic the games they make. I accept we already have wheels, boards, pads, etc, but why not more diverse.
I mean a lightsaber type think would be fantastic for DF2 and obi-wan. Imagine wielding a saber held in your hands to kill the enemies! How about boxing gloves for Knockout Kings and maybe fighting games like DOA3? Motion sensing would add incredible realism to a game, and would make them much more fun for the consumer.
Dance floor europe or whatever it is called comes with a dance mat, excellent idea!
I mean a lightsaber type think would be fantastic for DF2 and obi-wan. Imagine wielding a saber held in your hands to kill the enemies! How about boxing gloves for Knockout Kings and maybe fighting games like DOA3? Motion sensing would add incredible realism to a game, and would make them much more fun for the consumer.
Dance floor europe or whatever it is called comes with a dance mat, excellent idea!
Well, we had a half way stage with the purpose made peripherals: the fishing rod controller (that also acts as a sword in Soul Calibur!) and the Maracas in Samba are perfect examples.
It's just a shame not all games could work with such ideas
It's just a shame not all games could work with such ideas
It's very true that increased interactivity will be the next logical progression from how things are at this point in time. Besides, developers can go on improving graphics, sound and all that, but not really alter the gameplay any further from the days of the Atari 2600. Interactivity would add a brand new dimension to gaming as we know it.
I look forward to the day when we deviate from control pads into something far more powerful. To be honest this decade is probably a very good prediction....
I look forward to the day when we deviate from control pads into something far more powerful. To be honest this decade is probably a very good prediction....
Now for my full reply...
There's a scientist who's name I forgot that wrote a book last decade in which he predicted the rise of the Internet and all the facilities on it. For this decade he predicts that direct human brain interaction with consoles will come of age.
Although I'm not that optomistic, I'm certain advances will be made in computer human interaction. After all, how advanced will computers get before plastic buttons aren't enough to get full control! (incidentally, did you know the QWERTY keyboard was set up like that to SLOW the typing speed of fast typists who broke typewritters!)
I've been saying it for a long time- how can we interact with massive fantasy game worlds with only a lump of plastic? It's amazing that people took so long to come up with the rumble pack!
Perhaps VR and motion sensors will be the answer?
There's a scientist who's name I forgot that wrote a book last decade in which he predicted the rise of the Internet and all the facilities on it. For this decade he predicts that direct human brain interaction with consoles will come of age.
Although I'm not that optomistic, I'm certain advances will be made in computer human interaction. After all, how advanced will computers get before plastic buttons aren't enough to get full control! (incidentally, did you know the QWERTY keyboard was set up like that to SLOW the typing speed of fast typists who broke typewritters!)
I've been saying it for a long time- how can we interact with massive fantasy game worlds with only a lump of plastic? It's amazing that people took so long to come up with the rumble pack!
Perhaps VR and motion sensors will be the answer?
*Looks into the future*
Badger: I'm sure glad I purchased this PS3
*sets up PS3*
PS3: Welcome to the Sony home entertainment system
Badger: Cool
PS3: What would you like for dinner?
Badger: Nothing thanks
PS3: I feel rejected
Badger:Huh?
PS3:I'm tired of doing your b!tch work, your just using me for your own pleasure
Badger: Well... That's what consoles are meant to do
PS3: Hmph *sulks*
*Comes back to 2002*
Hmmm... a console with female emoticons....
The future is bad.
Badger: I'm sure glad I purchased this PS3
*sets up PS3*
PS3: Welcome to the Sony home entertainment system
Badger: Cool
PS3: What would you like for dinner?
Badger: Nothing thanks
PS3: I feel rejected
Badger:Huh?
PS3:I'm tired of doing your b!tch work, your just using me for your own pleasure
Badger: Well... That's what consoles are meant to do
PS3: Hmph *sulks*
*Comes back to 2002*
Hmmm... a console with female emoticons....
The future is bad.
Yes, but not at the level where the console could feed real worlds into your brain, and let you interact through them!
To be honest a brain linked console could probably be made now. All the console would need to do is decode the electrical impulses relayed to it from the nerve. Professor Warwick had made a computer decode this in terms of emotions, thus using this technology it seems to be very easy to apply such a system to a console.
However the Prof. will probably want to patent this one, and make himself a very rich young man in the future!
However the Prof. will probably want to patent this one, and make himself a very rich young man in the future!
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