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Samsung thinks up mind-reading brain implant

Company files patent application for an implantable medical device that can transmit information. Think of it as a secure Wi-Fi router for your body.

Eric Mack Contributing Editor
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Eric Mack
Samsung's brain implant comes with security to fend off zombie surgeons, and hopefully non-zombie hackers, too. Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET

Samsung has applied for a patent on an implantable medical device that can communicate physiological/pathological information with an "external device."

At last, an app to tell us when we're stressed, drunk, or asleep (states that typically occur in that order, at least for me).

Samsung envisions much more than just a pacemaker you connect to. The application includes a number of possible scenarios with sci-fi implications such as a brain implant to keep track of brainwaves (but certainly not embed subliminal messages about the superior quality of Samsung devices) and fingertip implants for motion detection.

There's even mention of using the brain implant to directly control the system. Cutting through the patent-speak, Samsung is talking about an implant system capable of being controlled through thought.

Also fascinating is the apparent acknowledgment of the scary Orwell-meets-The Matrix potential of such a technology with the inclusion of a security engine in the device that could send alerts to the user whenever someone else is attempting to access the system.

So that scary pre-singularity moment could appear sooner than we thought: the day we have to decide if a chip in the head that could tell us about the stroke we're about to have is worth the risk of a becoming the target of a brain hack. Suddenly, regular doctor's check-ups aren't sounding so bad anymore.

Patent Bolt

(Via Patent Bolt)