This isn't "worldchanging" in terms of it being something that we should work to achieve; this is "worldchanging" in that it's a kind of technology that could have some seriously negative consequences if abused, so we should be paying closer attention to it now, while it's still early in its development. Moreover, we could even start brainstorming uses that could have real human benefit.
I'm talking, of course, about Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation.
The term may not ring a bell, so how about this: remote control of someone else's navigation while walking.
It's long been known that certain kind of electrical stimulation can trigger changes to body perceptions of its location and where various limbs are (and aren't) -- a kind of awareness known scientifically as "proprioception." The body area so stimulated is the "vestibular" system, which controls balance. Electric stimulations of the vestibular system are used in research on how the body perceives itself (PDF), and as a way to control balance disorders. But it turns out that Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) can do much more. Researchers at Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) have found that it's possible to use GVS to the mastoid region (just behind and below the ear) in order to "steer" a walking person. Moreover, they are already planning on commercializing this technology.
NTT's version of GVS was unveiled at the recent SIGGRAPH conference. The fact sheet for the demo gives a few details:
There is no feeling of enforced action. Because users are navigated very naturally and almost unconsciously, they are not distracted by the stimulation and are aware that their behavior was an effect of the stimulation only afterward.The device provides a virtual sense of acceleration without an expensive mechanical platform synchronized to the flow of movies.When the stimulation is synchronized to musical rhythms, the device provides a very amazing experience. Especially when stimulation is at a high frequency (more than 1~2 Hz), users feel as if their visual fields and bodies are tremblingly along with the rhythm.
New Scientist adds more information about the research, and provides a link to a surreal video (MPEG) of a young woman being steered around by an older man using what looks like an off-the-shelf RC vehicle controller.
NTT isn't just looking at GVS as a way to stimulate interesting musical experiences or for more realistic virtual reality games. They claim that it would have more practical applications:
One implication of this technology is its possible role in maintaining safety standards for electrical stimulation. Popularization of ubiquitous technology is another, because it would be useful for crowd control to have people walk in the same direction and sway to avoid collisions.
From a benevolent standpoint, it's the walking equivalent of the Intelligent Vehicle-Highway System (IVHS); let's call it the Intelligent Pedestrian Sidewalk System (IPSS), built to keep people from running into each other. The less-benevolent uses aren't hard to imagine, however.
This technology will likely follow a predictable pattern, similar to that taken by virtual reality: curiosity from the edges; hype about the possible uses; clumsy and not-terribly-useful hardware tried by the masses; subsequent abandonment by the masses; (a decade or so later) real applications finally emerging. As the technology stands now, we're still in the first stage: GVS requires bulky (and undoubtedly oh-so-comfortable) headgear and battery pack, and the effects appear to be more amusing to watch than to experience.
But improvements are all-too-likely. In principle, such stimulation could even be achieved without headgear, although how precisely that would be accomplished remains (ahem) an engineering question. So the question for you folks: what sorts of positive, beneficial uses can you imagine for something like this? And would you want to try it?
(Thanks for the disturbing tip, Mike Treder)
