HUMAN PUPPETS VIA TECHNOLOGY

The University of Tokyo and Sony are working on a new gadget, called PosessedHand, that could enable people to play songs on the guitar without having to learn them. The device simply straps onto a user's forearm and is completely noninvasive. It sends electrical impulses into the arm, but the electricity is too weak to force the hand to move. A user just gets a gentle sensation of how to move the hand and fingers. Basically, this device could instruct you how to play a song that you have never learned, potentially in real time.

The PosessedHand has been met with some controversy. It could help users play better while wearing it, but they might not actually learn anything. While using it, you can just complacently follow the impulses. The brain does not need to be very active, so a player's skill might not improve at all. Musicians worry that genuine talent might suffer from the use of the device.

Another possible use for this type of gadget is for sign language. An interpreter's job would be much easier if the device told the hands what to do in real time. A computer could record speech, convert it to text, then to sign language, and the corresponding signals would be sent to the hands. What you get is real time, flawless translating from speech to sign language, and the translator does not even need to learn any signs.

So far the best application of artificially stimulating muscles is in helping victims of paralysis. As mentioned in the prosthetics post, medical science is still unable to reliably heal nerve damage. But the utilization of electrodes seems to be making better progress. A young man who was made paraplegic by a car collision has had electrodes implanted in his lower spinal chord. Within a week he could keep his balance while standing. He has also regained bladder and bowel control. The doctors are quick to advise caution, but this story is a great source of hope for anyone in similar circumstances. It shows the promise that electrode technology holds for humanity.

If you strengthened the electrical impulses from the PosessedHand, then the muscles would move involuntarily. There would be no need for the user's attention. This concept has already been employed for some physical fitness gadgets. It is easy to suppose expanding this technology for the entire body. Imagine a suit, perhaps even a tuxedo, that electrically controls a wearer's muscles with great precision and sophistication. At the touch of a button, a user can perform dance sequences, execute advanced martial arts techniques, or play musical instruments without any prior knowledge. If the suit could also detect and understand brain signals, then paralytics could use it as a noninvasive solution to their paralysis.