The Silicon Review - Best Business Review Magazine 10 Best IT Services Companies 2019 | Page 33

a Reality
these instructions and wirelessly
sends them to a translator
connected to the electrodes attached
to the rat’s brain. The rat actually
carries out the instructions, i.e. what
the researcher thought to do, the rat
did it. The rats in the experiment
were initially made to perform
basic movements. The system was
configured in such a way that the
person controlling would think
about moving his right hand and the
rat would turn right.
Later on, the scientists made the
rats navigate their way through
increasingly complex mazes and the
little creatures did not disappoint.
The rats handled the tests well,
and learnt better maneuvering and
navigation as the tests got harder.
The human controllers had to
learn to focus their thoughts and
prevent any distractions for their
thoughts to be coherent and easily
understandable. The next part of
this project would be to improve the
technology and make it simpler to
implement and use.
The team that carried out
this experiment hopes to use
their apparatus for a type of
neurotherapeutic treatment
and help alleviate depressions
and anxiety attacks. However,
speculations are rife for the
potential misuse of this technology.
But, like every piece of tech this one
too is a double-edged sword. The
team hopes to one day communicate
complex emotions like emotions
between people, but are confident
about the fact that it cannot be
used on people against their will or
without their knowledge.
Information technology has made
our lives better and brought
many services to our doorstep.
It has allowed us to carry out
mundane tasks like paying utility
bills, booking movie tickets, make
dinner reservations, etc., all from
the comfort of our living rooms.
With the right kind of investment
and guidance, technologies like the
one developed by the scientists at
Zhejiang University can definitely
benefit people.
SR