Optocapacitance in Scientific American

On April 10, 2015   /   Affective computing, Augmentation  
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Gold nanoparticles


Gold nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles refract light
differently based on on their size
My latest Scientific American article “Optocapacitance Shines New Light on the Brain” explores an exciting new technology, tentatively named optocapacitance. While I’ve been excited about its better-known cousin, optogenetics, for years, I think this has greater potential for therapeutic application and augmentation uses in living human beings. Treatment of macular degeneration and certain other retinal diseases has been one suggested application. It could also offer an effective method for integrating robotic and neural prosthetics with our bodies. Direct connections between various devices and our nervous system could become possible, providing improved sensory feedback and control. As far as affective computing goes, I could see it one day leading to direct communication with our emotions for diagnostic, therapeutic and entertainment purposes.
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The Emotional Machine and You

On March 7, 2014   /   Future  
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Continuing on the topic of affective computing, I’ve cross-posted a piece at Psychology Today and on my World Future blog. “The Emotional Machine and You” examines the issues we may face when dealing with a technology that can read, act upon and manipulate our most basic human emotions. Such devices could
become capable of eliciting responses that lead to emotional bonding without any hope of reciprocation. Such a “relationship” would leave us open to easy manipulation — whether for commercial, political or other types of gain. How do we deal with such a threat without excising our most human traits?

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Affective Computing and the Future of Marketing

On March 5, 2014   /   AI  
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My new article “How Your Computer Will Read You Like A Book – And Then Sell You Stuff” is up at Fast Company’s Futurist Forum. In it, I talk about ‘affective computing‘ – systems that read, interpret and even simulate human emotion. This is going to change our relationship with technology in ways you’ve probably never imagined. To my mind, one of its more interesting applications will be in the field of marketing. As human beings, we communicate volumes of information to each other via nonverbal cues – facial expressions, posture, gestures, gait. Yet for the most part, these have been inaccessible to computers. Until now. Imagine what will happen to marketing when your response
can be instantly, accurately interpreted, allowing ads to be altered on the fly, targeting you as never before? Get ready for a Brave New Shopping Experience.

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