Remote controlled humans might sound a bizarre and nightmarish prospect, but Japanese researchers hope to harness the trick for computer gaming.
By remotely stimulating a person's vestibular system - the fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear that guide their sense of balance - with electrodes placed on the skin just below the ear, researchers at NTT's research laboratories in Kanagawa have found a way to turn humans into oversized radio controlled vehicles.
The technique, known as galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), unbalances a person so that they automatically veer left or right in an attempt to rebalance themselves. The NTT team developed a headset and a control unit similar to that used with remote-controlled toy cars.
The research project went on public display at the 2005 SIGGRAPH, in Los Angeles, US from 2 August. Volunteers were given a chance to experience GVS and, to the amusement of other visitors, were seen careening around the show floor under demonstrators' control.
Gravity shift
Taro Maeda and colleagues at NTT believe the system could primarily be used to make computer games feel more realistic. In a driving game, for example, a player could feel gravity shift as their car hurtles through a tight bend.
"I do think this could find an application in computer gaming," says James Collins, an expert in GVS at Boston University in the US. "You could definitely use it to give the illusion of motion when going through some virtual environment."
"It certainly has some potential in this area," adds Brian Day, an expert at the Institute of Neurology, at University College London. However, Day warns that some evidence suggests extended use of vestibular stimulation at high current can cause tissue damage. "I would imagine that regulatory bodies would not allow GVS to be used in an uncontrolled way," he told New Scientist.
GVS may also find use as a medical therapy, helping patients who have an impaired sense of balance. "There certainly remains an opportunity in the medical sphere," Collins adds.
Collins also points out that a US patent already exists for using GVS as a virtual reality tool. The approach was pioneered in the late 1990s by a company called Virtual Motion, he says.
is this completely involuntary however? in other words, would a person under the control of this be unable to simply will himself to do his own bidding instead of the guy at the controls?
from the sounds of it it seems to be more 'influencing' people to move certain directions than forcing them (like with the cockroaches with electrodes implanted in them)
outcast wrote:is this completely involuntary however? in other words, would a person under the control of this be unable to simply will himself to do his own bidding instead of the guy at the controls?
from the sounds of it it seems to be more 'influencing' people to move certain directions than forcing them (like with the cockroaches with electrodes implanted in them)
Indeed - if I understand correctly, they just create a sensation of "Oops! I'm falling!", prompting the body to automatically try to correct, thereby stepping in the desired direction.
With some practice, people should be able to override this - they'd have trouble remaining upright, but it's no perfect remote control by far.
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outcast wrote:is this completely involuntary however? in other words, would a person under the control of this be unable to simply will himself to do his own bidding instead of the guy at the controls?
from the sounds of it it seems to be more 'influencing' people to move certain directions than forcing them (like with the cockroaches with electrodes implanted in them)
Indeed - if I understand correctly, they just create a sensation of "Oops! I'm falling!", prompting the body to automatically try to correct, thereby stepping in the desired direction.
With some practice, people should be able to override this - they'd have trouble remaining upright, but it's no perfect remote control by far.
I expect you could learn to override this fairly quickly if you were motivated to do so. Among the folks who learn to override their vestibular system signals are astronauts, pilots, people recovering from certain types of brain injury, and also folks afflicted with diseases such as Parkinson's or MS that can affect the sense of balance.
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I'd hate to be the company that makes the version of this that ruins someone inner ear with a faulty or misused device.
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outcast wrote:is this completely involuntary however? in other words, would a person under the control of this be unable to simply will himself to do his own bidding instead of the guy at the controls?
from the sounds of it it seems to be more 'influencing' people to move certain directions than forcing them (like with the cockroaches with electrodes implanted in them)
Indeed - if I understand correctly, they just create a sensation of "Oops! I'm falling!", prompting the body to automatically try to correct, thereby stepping in the desired direction.
With some practice, people should be able to override this - they'd have trouble remaining upright, but it's no perfect remote control by far.
I expect you could learn to override this fairly quickly if you were motivated to do so. Among the folks who learn to override their vestibular system signals are astronauts, pilots, people recovering from certain types of brain injury, and also folks afflicted with diseases such as Parkinson's or MS that can affect the sense of balance.
So...this could probably be used to help train astronauts and pilots as well, then?
Possibly... except flying "under the hood" for instrument training frequently discombobulates folks' sense of balance anyhow. But possibly - could certainly give pilots/astronauts an experience of vertigo in a safe environment before they encounter it in the real world. Might have some limited application in flight simulators.
But I'd be more intrigued with it's use in rehabilitation of the injured and ill - could this be used to restore a properly working sense of balance in those left permanently dizzy/off-kilter by injury or disease? That would be a truly useful application of the technology
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
hmmn, I'm not sure if it would be useful for astronauts and pilots. While the electronics might be able to survive sustained high-G manouvers, I'm not so sure the flesh & blood that's holding the electronics in place will hold up to the increased strain.
Matt Huang wrote:hmmn, I'm not sure if it would be useful for astronauts and pilots. While the electronics might be able to survive sustained high-G manouvers, I'm not so sure the flesh & blood that's holding the electronics in place will hold up to the increased strain.
First: define "high-g". Until you do that, it's a little hard to have a discussion on the topic. What you consider high g, what I consider high g, and what a figher pilot consider high g might well be very different multiple of "g".
Second, it's not just high g manuvers that trigger imbalances - low and zero g can do the very same thing. Our balance senses are calibrated to 1 g for the most part, lack of gravity can wreak just as much havoc as excess.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
The vestibular system, huh? Interestingly enough, if these devices are ever used, I'll be proof from those... as far as I know, my inner ear has been more or less completely atrophied/calcified. I retain my sense of balance through experience and visual/physical cues; it'd have to be medically tested, but I don't think my inner ears are effectively there anymore. Rather interesting when one thinks about how this device works...
