Mind-reading has taken a step toward possibility with a new computer that can decode brain activity to determine what a person is looking at with up to 90% accuracy, the Independent reports. With improvements, the technology could be able to reconstruct any image a person could conjure up—and someday, their very thoughts and dreams, said the lead researcher of the experiments detailed in the journal Nature.
The computer successfully "decoded" brain activity revealed on a medical scanner and matched it to photographs of what a subject had seen. The experiment opens a world of possibilities, but it could also lead to "serious ethical and privacy implications," said the top scientist. "It's something I do care about." (More neurology stories.)