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SINGAPORE (AP) -- Technological advances will one day allow computers to
be implanted in the human body and could help the blind see and the deaf
hear,
according to Bill Gates. But the Microsoft chairman says he's not ready
to be
hardwired.
"One of the guys that works at Microsoft always says to me 'I'm ready,
plug
me in,"' Gates said at a Microsoft seminar in Singapore. "I don't feel
quite the same way. I'm happy to have the computer over there and I'm
over here."
Meshing people directly with computers has been a science fiction
subject for
years, from downloading memories onto computer chips to replacement
robotic
limbs controlled by brain waves.
The fantasy is coming closer to reality as advances in technology mean
computers are learning to interact with human characteristics such as
voices, touch
-- even smell.
Gates, whose company is spending more than US$6 billion on research and
development this year to stay a world leader in software development,
was asked at the seminar whether he thought computers would ever be
implanted in the human brain.
He noted that cochlear implants and other medical implants were already
being
used to treat hearing problems and some conditions that cause constant
pain,
and were changing some people's lives dramatically.
Cochlear implants, which employ digital pulses that the brain interprets
as
sound, can help profoundly deaf people hear.
Advances were also being made on implants that can help fix eyesight
problems, Gates said.
These types of technologies would continue to be improved and expanded,
especially in areas where they would be "correcting deficiencies," he
said.
"We will have those capabilities," Gates said. He cited author Ray
Kurzweil, whom he called the best at predicting the
future of artificial intelligence, as believing that such computer-human
links
would become mainstream -- though probably not for several generations.
Gates also predicted that the keyboard won't be replaced by voice
recognition
software, and that the pen will make a comeback -- although without ink.
The
three would form the basic ways people will interact with their
computers in the future, he said.
He said when computer pen technology -- scratching words onto a screen
that a
computer tries to read -- gets more sophisticated it will do things like
let
people draw musical notes and chemical signs, as well as recognize
handwriting.
"Some people today underestimate the pen, because that recognition
software
is at an early stage," Gates said. "But it's on a very fast learning
curve."
Speech would probably become the main way to input information in mobile
devices, though Gates noted the huge popularity of mobile phone short
messages services -- used almost fanatically across Asia. "In some cases
-- mobile phones -- speech will be the primary input (because) either
the pen or the keyboard is a bit tough -- although a lot of young people
are awfully good with that little keyboard," Gates said.
Source: CNN
URL:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/07/04/ ... index.html
be implanted in the human body and could help the blind see and the deaf
hear,
according to Bill Gates. But the Microsoft chairman says he's not ready
to be
hardwired.
"One of the guys that works at Microsoft always says to me 'I'm ready,
plug
me in,"' Gates said at a Microsoft seminar in Singapore. "I don't feel
quite the same way. I'm happy to have the computer over there and I'm
over here."
Meshing people directly with computers has been a science fiction
subject for
years, from downloading memories onto computer chips to replacement
robotic
limbs controlled by brain waves.
The fantasy is coming closer to reality as advances in technology mean
computers are learning to interact with human characteristics such as
voices, touch
-- even smell.
Gates, whose company is spending more than US$6 billion on research and
development this year to stay a world leader in software development,
was asked at the seminar whether he thought computers would ever be
implanted in the human brain.
He noted that cochlear implants and other medical implants were already
being
used to treat hearing problems and some conditions that cause constant
pain,
and were changing some people's lives dramatically.
Cochlear implants, which employ digital pulses that the brain interprets
as
sound, can help profoundly deaf people hear.
Advances were also being made on implants that can help fix eyesight
problems, Gates said.
These types of technologies would continue to be improved and expanded,
especially in areas where they would be "correcting deficiencies," he
said.
"We will have those capabilities," Gates said. He cited author Ray
Kurzweil, whom he called the best at predicting the
future of artificial intelligence, as believing that such computer-human
links
would become mainstream -- though probably not for several generations.
Gates also predicted that the keyboard won't be replaced by voice
recognition
software, and that the pen will make a comeback -- although without ink.
The
three would form the basic ways people will interact with their
computers in the future, he said.
He said when computer pen technology -- scratching words onto a screen
that a
computer tries to read -- gets more sophisticated it will do things like
let
people draw musical notes and chemical signs, as well as recognize
handwriting.
"Some people today underestimate the pen, because that recognition
software
is at an early stage," Gates said. "But it's on a very fast learning
curve."
Speech would probably become the main way to input information in mobile
devices, though Gates noted the huge popularity of mobile phone short
messages services -- used almost fanatically across Asia. "In some cases
-- mobile phones -- speech will be the primary input (because) either
the pen or the keyboard is a bit tough -- although a lot of young people
are awfully good with that little keyboard," Gates said.
Source: CNN
URL:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/07/04/ ... index.html
