Activist Post
Nicholas West
The other day I wrote about Google positioning itself as the lead developer of automated Smart Home technology that will essentially introduce robotic intelligence into every home.
As further evidence of why Google and others see that the future of surveillance and control is likely to be accepted, attendees of the international Consumer Electronics Show (CES) played the game What's Next? - a Facebook game "released by IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization, in order to predict the future of consumer electronics."
The future, as you will see, is upon us - and mind controlled devices are a central component.
For a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card, a substantial 42% of those who participated in a game designed to predict future trends revealed that they are not entirely satisfied even with an automated "anticipatory home" where the objects in it could be programmed to cater to their every need. Rather, these players preferred the ability to control appliances and systems by thought alone.
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Nicholas West
The other day I wrote about Google positioning itself as the lead developer of automated Smart Home technology that will essentially introduce robotic intelligence into every home.
As further evidence of why Google and others see that the future of surveillance and control is likely to be accepted, attendees of the international Consumer Electronics Show (CES) played the game What's Next? - a Facebook game "released by IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization, in order to predict the future of consumer electronics."
The future, as you will see, is upon us - and mind controlled devices are a central component.
For a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card, a substantial 42% of those who participated in a game designed to predict future trends revealed that they are not entirely satisfied even with an automated "anticipatory home" where the objects in it could be programmed to cater to their every need. Rather, these players preferred the ability to control appliances and systems by thought alone.
Dean Aslam, IEEE senior member and professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan State University, explained: “Through use of wearable Microsystems equipped with inexpensive and non-invasive brainwave and muscle sensors, we will be able to set specific patterns and thoughts to turn on ceiling fans, appliances or even lights. When you get cold, all you’ll need to do is blink your left eye twice or think about raising the temperature on the thermostat and you’ll warm right up. If you go to sleep without switching off lights and TV, they will be automatically switched off the moment the sensors find you in the state of sleep.” (Source)The findings have led the developer of the game, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), to conclude that the gadget of the future is YOU. The Institute sees this as an indication that people are not yet prepared to relinquish full control to autonomous systems, but instead prefer to self-direct those applications and objects. For example:
Participants thought that the only thing better than having an app tell your coffee maker that it’s time to start brewing a fresh pot in the morning, is having their brains telling it to serve up a cup. 42 percent of respondents think that the future smart home appliances will be mind controlled.However, while this desire for control could be seen as a positive development, it is also unsettling in its shortsightedness. It is like saying that because I can choose the app on my hypothetical smartphone - from a wide variety of choices - that it is actually MY app and will behave only as directed without any of personal data being collected, my personal choices being databased, or all of that being sold to the government and third parties for purposes well beyond my control. As we know from the revelations of Edward Snowden and others, this is a naive position to have taken.
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