Ed Boyden: A light switch for neurons

Controlling the brain with light

This TED talk by Ed Boyden really amazed and shocked me at the same time.
The idea of controlling the brain with light in a very precise and controlled way sounds like science fiction, but it seems to be way more real than I expected.

"Ed Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or de-activate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control, he's managed to cure mice of analogs of PTSD and certain forms of blindness. On the horizon: neural prosthetics."

Amazing stuff that could lead to curing braindisorders. But also disturbing, becuase who will control these direct mind controls?
Could do with a back-up of my own brain though =]



Keywords: science, ted

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Where good ideas come from

TED talk by Steven Johnson

Keywords: ideas, ted, workmethods

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Daniel Kahneman

The experiencing self vs. the remembering self

Everybody is in search of happiness these days, but it seems almost impossible to think straight about happiness.
Daniel Kahneman argues that there are too many traps to really get to the bottom of it. First of all wellbeing is a complex thing, it applies to too many different things. And then there is a great discripency between our two selfs; the experiencing self, that only lives in the present, the now;  and the remembering self, that keeps score and maintains the story of our life.

The remembering self is a story teller. Our memory tells our stories, it is what we get to keep from our experience.
In that perspective it is good to question what defines a story?
Changes, Significant moments and Endings (probably the most important)
These parts will define your influence memory.

One of the biggest differences between the experiencing and remembering self is the handling of time.
Your experiencing self might find overall happiness whilst undergoing an event but one significant moment or ending can ruin the whole experience and your remembering self will tell you the event was horrible.
This underlines the conflict in valuing hapiness, for one part of your self tell you the experience was good but the other clearly doesn't.

Another great TED talk to think about how experiences are established and perhaps how we (as designers) can use this knowledge to make design matter.

Keywords: experience, ted

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Parenting technology

Thoughts by Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly was one of the guestspeakers at TEDxAmsterdam back in november (2009) and he is also Senior Maverick at Wired magazine (US). But most of all Kevin Kelly is a pioneer in exploring and writing about the history, meaning and purpose of technolgy in our lives.
He sees technology as an extension of life and technology is anything useful invented by a mind. It is fully intertwined with our lives and it is not only expressed through the devices we carry in our pockets, it is also expressed in things like law or systems like cities.

After watching the TED-talk I quickly browsed the internet to find more information about Kelly, and bumbed into many different sites including the Monitor talent site which has a nice overview of Kelly's activities and thoughts;
....
Why More Technology is Good for the World
Technology has become the primary driver of society and civilization. New technologies alter politics, the arts, social norms, science, and even our identities. The progress of technology is making the world better, but no body is very happy about it. Progress is out of fashion. Yet the march towards the next innovation seems inevitable. Do we even have a choice? We do. We have a choice in how to devise technology that will increase the possibilities and opportunities in the world. The answer to a bad idea is a better idea, rather than to stop thinking, so we should be increasing the good technology in the world.

Read the full article at the Monitor talent website here

You can also watch the TEDxAmsterdam-talk. I particulairy liked the part when he compared technology with children:
" ...technologies are sort of like children. Our job as humans is to parent our mind children, to find them good friends and to find them a good job. And so every technology is a creative force looking for the right job. There are no bad technologies just as there are no bad children. We don't say children are neutral. Children are positive we just have to find them the right place..."

Kevin Kelly is currently researching/writing his next book, in which he hopes to answer the question, “What does technology want?” It will be most likely published by Viking/Penguin sometime in 2010. His thoughts-in-progress can also be seen and read on his extensive semi-blog, The Technium.

Keywords: technology, ted

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Why wait for the iSlate?!

Gesture Interfaces by Pranav Mistry

Pranav Mistry explaining his reason for the 'SixthSense' project.

'SixthSense' is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information. By using a camera and a tiny projector mounted in a pendant like wearable device, 'SixthSense' sees what you see and visually augments any surfaces or objects we are interacting with. It projects information onto surfaces, walls, and physical objects around us, and lets us interact with the projected information through natural hand gestures, arm movements, or our interaction with the object itself. 'SixthSense' attempts to free information from its confines by seamlessly integrating it with reality, and thus making the entire world your computer.

You might have seen bits and pieces of this project before (since it was on TEDtalks februari 2009) but this is latest the video from TEDtalks in India, november 2009.

You can find more of Pranav's work on his website


Keywords: interface, technology, ted

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And then... there was nothing

TED talks

TED talks are renowned for there quality of speakers and topics. You can't help but feel smarter and enriched after watching them!
This talk is no exception and very entertaining.

Keywords: ted, video

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