Windows of the Future

Hello everybody. I just recently found this site, yet I've been a Singularitarian for a few good months now. Its tough to understand the technological singularity without getting a rush of ideas and concepts of future technology. Up until a week ago, when I found Blogging The Singularity, I didn't know there was a place for us to share, and I'm thrilled to have found H+ Cafe. With that, I'm going to go ahead and expound on some recent thoughts I've been having.

The Future of Windows

In a recent talk at Ted, Ray Kurzweil made the prediction that the cell phone computers of today will fit inside a blood cell within 25 years. This, of course, got me thinking about the implications. The iPhone is already blowing people's minds with its unprecedented level of interactivity and open-source applications. What will it mean to be able to fit an iPhone computer in our bodies?

This chart is a demonstration of how we can reverse engineer the human brain. I believe this is the auditory cortex. Credit to Ray Kurzweil and lifeboat.com for this diagram.

By the time this is possible, we will almost assuredly be able to map out our brain functions in systematic form. Therefore we will likely be able to interface directly with our sensibilities. Even today, we have mass market toys such as the Star Wars Force Trainer that interact directly with brain function to create real world results. Brain interactivity technology is sure to surge with the oncoming singularity. Even today we have mapped out many parts of the brain. It's only a matter of time before we have it all figured out.

Now, combine the understanding of the human brain with the exponential shrinking of computers, and we can be almost sure that we'll be able to fully interact and alter our sensibilities. Personal computing will be done in our minds, rather than with a keyboard and monitor. We should be able to project a GUI (graphical user interface) in front of us, and interact with it through thought commands. We used to think the future of computing would involve something like the computers in the movie Minority Report, where a GUI is displayed physically, and we interact through touch. But if we can shrink technology to such a large degree, this type of display is inefficient. The GUI should be overlaid on what we are actually seeing (yes, we'll have the ability to make it translucent: Windows 7 already has that). This means that the Windows desktop we're used to seeing on a monitor will appear simply through our minds. Sharing what we see with others will likely be easy as well, as we will be connected to the net though our minds. Simple thought commands should allow us to interact with each other directly.

My favorite implication of these concepts apply to "themes" we will be able to set. We can already download themes for Windows, consisting of sets of sounds, icons, and interfaces. Once we can sync with our minds via our sensibilities, we should be able to download themes for Life! Imagine a theme based on the Legend of Zelda. Every time you leave your house, you could automatically have the Hyrule Field Theme play to you. Every time you walk into a store, the Bazaar Theme could play. Find $5 on the ground? this could play. The possibilities are endless!

Of course there are a lot more implications to these concepts, as I'm sure have been explored here before. Now that I've found this site, I can't wait to continue to contribute what I can.

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Comment by Peer Infinity on June 24, 2009 at 6:54pm: Welcome to the H+ Cafe, Adam :)

Yes, there's much awesomeness in this post, but...

You know how, if you keep a tiger in a cage for five years, and finally let the tiger out of the cage, the tiger will pace back and forth within a space that exactly matches the confines of the cage?

You're talking about the ability to interface hardware and software directly with your brain, and the only application you can think of is "Themes"?

Also... you don't notice anything wrong with the idea of putting MICROSOFT software directly IN YOUR BRAIN???

So, um, having said all that, I guess I had better come up with some better ideas...

Well, first of all, don't you dare to put any software in your brain unless it's open-source, well-tested, and free from bugs or malicious code. For now, that means Linux, but by the time we have this technology, there may be other options.

As for applications, what I'm most looking forward to is enhancing my intelligence, and curing my stupidity. Though the interfaces you described in your post might not be advanced enough to make the kinds of modifications required for that.

The next thing that comes to mind is enhancing my ability to experience pleasure, and adding the ability to turn down or completely turn off my sense of pain.

The next thing that comes to mind ... is... sex :D

(Or was that the first thing that came to mind? I forget...)

The technology you're talking about here will let you synthesize any experience your mind is capable of experiencing. This means fully immersive virtual realities, which could also connect with the "real world", and become an Augmented Reality.

If I had this technology, then I would just stick my body in a life support machine somewhere, and spend all of my time in Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality. In fact, the rest of my body wouldn't be necessary anymore. All I need is my brain, and some sort of support system.

I'm really looking forward to feeling what it's like to be a fluffy bunny, or a tentacle monster, or all sorts of other things, and to have beautiful kinky sex with my friends and lovers, who are also likely to experiment with different genders and species :D

Though actually being able to feel and control things like tentacles, which the human brain doesn't already have a module to control, might require some more advanced brain-computer interfaces, or the ability to safely rewire your brain.

Oh, and you could also have virtual food that tastes better than real food.

And fully immersive video games.

For more description of Augmented Reality, I recommend reading Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge, or Halting State, by Charles Stross. Though neither of those books involve actual brain implants.

Oh, and I noticed you used the word "Singularitarian". Please post to the "poll: What is your definition of Singularitarianism?" thread, in this site's forums.

Comment by Chris Williamson on June 18, 2009 at 11:28am: WOW! awesome blog post!!!! Really got me thinking about the implications and the effect this kind of technology could have on our lives.