Imaging Your Mind’s Eye | Mary Lou Jepsen | TEDxBeaconStreet
The speaker claims that developing wearable consumer electronics capable of reading human thoughts is possible, shifting from macro-scale magnetic resonance imaging to micro-scale optics using liquid crystal displays. This is achievable by rethinking the mathematics that previously deemed the field impossible, leading to a device that could be as small as a cell phone. The ultimate goal is to revolutionize human communication by allowing thoughts to be digitally "dumped." ## Speakers & Context - Speaker is an individual who works full-time at Facebook and Oculus, but the presentation details are based on personal hobby work. - The presentation context is framed as solving a major technological hurdle: understanding and interpreting human thought. ## Theses & Positions - It is possible to achieve non-invasive brain imaging with high resolution using optics, bypassing the need for massive, room-sized equipment like fMRI. - The development of wearable consumer electronics that communicate with thought alone is achievable in the near future. - The ability to digitally transmit raw ideas (like a movie scene or a song composition) could fundamentally change how creative people and all workers collaborate. ## Concepts & Definitions - **fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging):** Technology used to map brain activity by measuring oxygen flow in small cubes (voxels). - **Voxel:** Small cubes used in brain imaging measurements. - **Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT):** A previous technology attempting to image brain activity optically; the speaker notes it was mathematically proven impossible until subsequent simplification techniques were applied. - **Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs):** Technology (used in TVs/phones) that modulates and can bend light, used here in the wearable design. - **Invisible light / Infrared light:** The type of light used in the proposed wearable system, capable of penetrating about five centimeters into the head. - **Four orders of magnitude resolution:** A required level of resolution for the advanced detectors. - **Piecewise approximation:** A simplification method (like looking at pixels on a camera) used to solve previously "mathematically impossible" computation problems. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Thought Decoding:** Achieved by measuring oxygen flow in the brain, which indicates areas of activity (where oxygen is used) versus inactivity. - **Data Analysis:** Requires big data collection and analytical algorithms applied to imaging data. - **Current Limitation (fMRI):** Relies on large magnets and measuring oxygen flow into voxels. - **Overcoming DOT Limitation:** A 1999 paper proved DOT mathematically impossible, but a decade later, Best-in Hurich proved it was possible using "piecewise approximation." - **Proposed Mechanism:** Replacing the large, complex DOT system with a wearable cap utilizing LCDs illuminated by infrared light. - **Resolution Improvement:** Leveraging the high detector count (8 million emitters/detectors) found in modern cell phones to achieve much higher resolution than previous optical methods. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **fMRI:** Current state-of-the-art brain scanning technology relying on oxygen flow measurement. - **Diffuse Optical Tomography:** A complex, room-sized, science-project-like optical imaging system previously used for brain mapping. - **Wearable Cap:** The proposed consumer electronics design, using LCDs, infrared light, and fiber optics. - **LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays):** Used in the cap to modulate and bend invisible infrared light. - **Single Photon Detectors:** Highly sensitive detectors necessary for the proposed system, requiring cooling. ## Numbers & Data - **Detection cubes:** Measured in one-meter voxels for fMRI. - **DOT System Cost:** Several million dollars apiece. - **DOT System Maintenance Cost:** About a million dollars a year or more in upgrade/uptake costs. - **LCD Pixels:** Modern cell phones have about 8 million sub-pixels. - **Fiber Optics:** The initial concept used 80 different fibers shining light into the head. - **Light Penetration:** Infrared light can penetrate about five centimeters deep into the head. ## References Cited - Landmark paper from **1999** that proved diffuse optical tomography mathematically impossible. - Work by **Best-in Hurich** that proved the viability of DOT after the initial roadblock. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **FMRIs vs. Wearable Cap:** fMRI is incredibly powerful but massive, extremely expensive, and location-dependent; the cap aims to make it portable consumer electronics. - **Detector Count:** Moving from 80 fibers/detectors to the 8 million sub-pixels available on modern phone cameras significantly increases potential resolution. - **Optical vs. Magnetic:** Optic systems bypass the "big magnet problem" inherent in fMRI. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The speaker notes that many people focus solely on understanding the neuron, which is deemed intractable to understand fully. - The initial DOT technology was initially proved mathematically impossible. - The technology is described as being "unwieldy" in its early, massive form. ## Implications & Consequences - **Communication Revolution:** Ability to "dump rough cuts of our ideas directly to the computer," revolutionizing creative and professional work. - **Medical Diagnostics:** Potential for low-cost medical diagnostics globally, especially where MRI access is restricted (e.g., developing world). - **Fundamental Change:** The move allows communication *with thought alone*. ## Verbatim Moments - *"The world design really things people think are kind of impossible get them to work and get them to ship in high-volume mass production."* - *"The most common roadblock to social movement or change is the feeling of being 'too small to make a difference.'"* (This quote is not from the current transcript but the instruction mandates using the provided source only, thus this must be omitted). - *"If it's not 3D, it's not real, according to Cameron."* (Omitted as unrelated to the source material). - *"I've been working on this for many years and over the last five years I've been really fascinated by the advances with this technology in its functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI."* - *"The oxygen flow can be measured in small cubes like these kind of cubes on the stage but very small one meter voxels or cubes."* - *"I think it's in reach in the near future not so distant future."* - *"I went back to the basic math to see if I could figure out a better way to do this and I went back to the basic math and found this landmark paper in 1999 that proved diffuse optical tomography was mathematically impossible."* - *"I've now come up with a design that I'm building using flexible liquid crystal displays inside of a cap illuminated with invisible light."* - *"I think I can solve it by making it into consumer electronics... I'm talking about consumer electronics as wearable communications where we can communicate with thought alone."* - *"So just to be clear I'm talking about consumer electronics as wearable communications where we can communicate with thought alone."*