Human 2.0 - The State of the Art

What's Needed for HCI

Human Computer Interface based technology is already here in many simple forms. However, in a previous article, I mentioned that lots is needed before a mature and safe implementations can be accepted with minimal risks of Sci-Fi type Terminators or the ability to hack implanted technology (see Stealing Light by Gary Gibson for a reference).

In a previous article I mentioned some pre-requisites which are summarised in the diagram below. 

Basically, we need to crack not just the ability to interact with technology, but some quite meaty problems around dealing with information overload, shifting contexts of use, human psychology, individual preferences and behaviour, security, future proofing and dealing with the inevitable SNAFUs that technology incurs.

One of the key issues will be how much is the technology wired into us and how much will be accessed in a wearable manner.

In the meant time there are a whole host of areas where universities, the defence establishment and consumer led technology companies are developing one-off single application devices and demonstrators.

Some of these are mentioned below.

Health Monitoring

There's lots of activity around the sports and wellness area of wearables. Well established capabilities in clothing, watches, rings, smart insoles etc. include capabilities for tracking and analysing: footsteps (pedometers), heart rate/pulse, temperature, tread patterns/gait. There are devices for looking at blood flow, but these can be easily fooled.

The latest announcements extending the commercially available repetoire to include:

• Omron's forthcoming Heartguide which promises to deliver accurate blood pressure monitoring (countering reports that many smart watches are innacurate);

• Fitbit's hint that it will be delivering blood sugar monitoring technology.

There's also a lot around relaxation and sleep improvement, which I have covered in a previous article.

Treatment
Increasingly, medecine is beginning to adopt devices which are not just wearable but implantable. These devices not only monitor conditions but can deliver therapy, usually via drugs. However the most dramatic is probably the system used for epilepsy, Resposive Neuro Stimulation or RNS. This is placed within the skull and mnitors EEG signals, an electrode is placed on or in the brain at the area where seizures normally occur. This recognises patterns leading to an attack and delivers electrical neuro stimulation signals to dampen down any attack.

Mental Capabilities

There are a few interesting niche applications such as Brainco's  application for monitoring student's focus during lessons and study (to provide feedback for self improvement) and Foc.us's brain stimulation device for improving computer gamers' reaction times.

Thought Reading

It's well known that Elon Musk and Facebook rivals are looking at technologies for reading thoughts. Though at present the most accessible device is AlterEgo - a wearable device which can read words that users are thinking about produce by MIT as a research demonstrator.

An interesting article on brain controlled gadgets can also be read at Hongkiat's site.

Cyborg Extensions

Additionally, whilst the military experiment with power assisted exoskeletons for combat soldiers, there are any number of devices now being used as prostheses to replace limbs or to by-pass problems such as severed spinal cords to convey nerve impulses along broken nerve pathways.

Lockheed Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) exoskeleton

Call To Arms

The logical conclusion is that point applications will be replaced by suites of applications, so a common architecture and interoperability is needed. Additionally, there are potential risks with some of the technologies proposed, especially if they are used by operators of high capital plant, equipment or transport. Safeguards are also needed to avoid unintended self harm from adoption. 

So before we blunder too far down this path, we need to do something to address the ethical framework for deployment and an industry certification scheme for security and personal risk mitigation.