So, we've been remote-controlling creatures for quite some time now.
It started with the roaches, and then the rat pleasure-center model… which has just been surpassed by some Japanese researchers, using electrodes that stimulate the inner ear.
Remote-controlled humans.
From that article:
By remotely stimulating a person's vestibular system - the fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear that guide their sense of balance - with electrodes placed on the skin just below the ear, researchers at NTT's research laboratories in Kanagawa have found a way to turn humans into oversized radio controlled vehicles.
The technique, known as galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), unbalances a person so that they automatically veer left or right in an attempt to rebalance themselves. The NTT team developed a headset and a control unit similar to that used with remote-controlled toy cars.
The research project went on public display at the 2005 SIGGRAPH, in Los Angeles, US from 2 August. Volunteers were given a chance to experience GVS and, to the amusement of other visitors, were seen careening around the show floor under demonstrators' control.
...
Taro Maeda and colleagues at NTT believe the system could primarily be used to make computer games feel more realistic. In a driving game, for example, a player could feel gravity shift as their car hurtles through a tight bend.
Games, you know. They think it'll have a great application in making games feel more realistic.
Apparently, there's been a US patent on this stuff since the 1990s, but I don't recall any games coming out with it. |
