# We now have the technology to view what your brain "sees". **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 23, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344 "2011-09-23T16:28:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/1 "2011-09-23T16:28:38Z")
Story here on [Gizmodo.](http://gizmodo.com/5843117/scientists-reconstruct-video-clips-from-brain-activity) UC Berkeley came up with a method to reconstruct video from activity _in your brain._ Using an fMRI, hours of analyzing the individual’s brain activity, then reconstructing the video by mixing and matching 18 million seconds of comparable video on YouTube to create a wholly new image that corresponds to the source footage, we can read your mind. Albeit it’s blurry and “impressionistic” but it’s an astonishing breakthrough. Think where this technology will be given another decade – or 25 years. From the article: > [@Gizmodo](#): > > The readings were fed into a computer program in which they were divided into three-dimensional pixels units called voxels (volumetric pixels). This process effectively decodes the brain signals generated by moving pictures, connecting the shape and motion information from the movies to specific brain actions. As the sessions progressed, the computer learned more and more about how the visual activity presented on the screen corresponded to the brain activity. [The Result.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsjDnYxJ0bo&feature=player_embedded) Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/2 "2011-09-23T17:01:28Z")
Not in any way surprised that faces were the most obviously matched. Humans do best with faces, and we store them Was impressed with the bit of white on the chest of the blurry person which matched up to the medal on the chest of the real person. The airplane didn’t do so hot, compared to the other things. What I’m wanting to see now is a set of people who work with planes, or have been impacted strongly by airplanes and see how their brains do with airplanes, or people who work with elephants do with elephants - basically to see if brains give a much clearer impression of something that is known or has made a strong impact. (I’m betting that it does.) ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/3 "2011-09-23T17:20:30Z")
No good can come of this. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/4 "2011-09-23T17:38:06Z")
christ, when I saw the subject I thought it was one of those hypothetical threads. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/5 "2011-09-23T17:43:30Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > No good can come of this. Agreed, I can think of many ways this technology could be abused. Especially by authoritarian governments. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/6 "2011-09-23T17:44:45Z")
Well my mind is blown (and now I wonder what the video of that would look like). This is incredible. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/7 "2011-09-23T17:58:35Z")
No mention about sex. Me thinks that would be even more deeply embedded in the brain. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/8 "2011-09-23T18:01:49Z")
I saw this via a link on Facebook. I thought they were kidding at first. One of the comments was along the lines of, “You just know someone is now trying to figure out how to prosecute our brains for copyright infringement…” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/9 "2011-09-23T19:31:55Z")
I wonder whether it could work with sounds? Or …touch? Smells? Other senses? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/10 "2011-09-23T19:49:16Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I wonder whether it could work with sounds? Or …touch? Smells? Other senses? No idea. But if we’ve found a way to “read” the visual machinations of such a complex and mysterious meat computer like our brains, I think it’s only a matter of time before we can tap into other aspects. So far, this tech seems merely voyeuristic, in that you can only observe. If we can decode the visual, I’m sure audio’s right around the corner – then “reading thoughts.” :eek: Not sure how you would reproduce smell, taste and touch (yet)? As awesome and scary as this is, imagine the insight we might gain from this sort of thing. I’m fascinated by the idea of being able to “view” someone’s dreams. What would it look like? Would it make any sense in the way watching a video would? Or does such imagined imagery take place on a whole different level of brain activity? If so, how would you calibrate it? Once the resolution and accuracy of such technology increases, it’ll be very interesting to see some novel applications; if only academic. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/11 "2011-09-23T20:04:04Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I wonder whether it could work with sounds? Or …touch? Smells? Other senses? How would that work, practically? We are **terrible** at determining spatial location with smells. Sound would give direction but not pinpoint location. Either motor touch or somatosensory touch has some resolution but we can determine that already. ETA: [how touch etc. is represented](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortical_homunculus). We are able to get greater resolution in fMRI because our visual areas are that much larger than those devoted to other senses. But, but we already have the technology. A simple hospital on _House_ did this, so it must be true! And no giant scanner needed! Just checked and, yup, same author as [this paper](http://www.dam.brown.edu/people/elie/NEUR_1680/Gallant_Nature_2008.pdf) (PDF, dense) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/12 "2011-09-23T20:24:29Z")
I think everything, everything that we believe about god and devils and angels will be explained once we get deep enough into our own brains. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/13 "2011-09-23T20:47:52Z")
I wonder if they can apply this to words that we read? It seems like it would be a very similar process. Very freakin’ cool. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/14 "2011-09-23T20:57:53Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > So far, this tech seems merely voyeuristic, in that you can only observe. If we can decode the visual, I’m sure audio’s right around the corner – then “reading thoughts.” :eek: I wouldn’t think audio would help with that. Do you actually “hear” your thoughts in your head as words? As far as I can tell, I only do so when subvocalizing–which generally means when I’m writing something or preparing to speak. The best you could hope to get out of that is a few variations on what I’m about to say out loud, anyway. I guess you might be able to listen in on whatever song someone has stuck in their head…but are you sure you want to? ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/15 "2011-09-23T21:08:29Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > I’m fascinated by the idea of being able to “view” someone’s dreams. What would it look like? The [Perry Bible Fellowship](http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF160-The_Dreamcatcher3000.gif) already answered this question for you. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/16 "2011-09-23T21:33:54Z")
I wonder what this could turn up if the test subject was blind-folded? Will they be able to reconstruct what your brain is visualizing? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/17 "2011-09-23T21:38:27Z")
I’d like to see them put a sleeping person in the machine, and see if they can do this for dreams. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/18 "2011-09-23T23:03:27Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > No mention about sex. Me thinks that would be even more deeply embedded in the brain. YMMV. I was rather thinking that myself. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/19 "2011-09-23T23:18:58Z")
Finally, a way to create your own porn, of anyone, doing anything…FUCK YEAH!! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344/20 "2011-09-23T23:48:06Z")
Amazing. I knew work was being done in this direction but had no idea it had come anywhere near this far. > [@Sunspace](#): > > I saw this via a link on Facebook. I thought they were kidding at first. > > One of the comments was along the lines of, “You just know someone is now trying to figure out how to prosecute our brains for copyright infringement…” I actually recall the potential conflict of technology like this with our rabid copyright laws being brought up years ago. That some technology like this was pretty much inevitable, and either we’d have to finally rewrite our laws to be more reasonable or literally start prosecuting people for looking at or imagining copyrighted material. > [@YogSosoth](#): > > Finally, a way to create your own porn, of anyone, doing anything…FUCK YEAH!! Eventually, quite possibly - or anything else you can imagine. It’s my understanding that we use the same brain functions to imagine images that we do to see them; so a technique to extract images you _see_ should potentially allow the extraction of those you _imagine_, as well. I’ve contemplated on occasion the idea of something like a sophisticated version of this combined with image manipulation software; something that combines human imagination with modern graphics techniques could be a whole new way of creating art. Also; “close your eyes Ms Smith and think of the face of the man who attacked you.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-now-have-the-technology-to-view-what-your-brain-sees/597344.md?page=2)