Hive Project, Computer-Controlled Brain Stimulation

I came across another european project that seeks better brain stimulation capabilities. It's called the "hyper interaction viability experiments" or HIVE for short. The terms in the acronym sound like gibberish, but the project itself looks legitimate.

Our goal is to research stimulation paradigms to design, develop and test a new generation of more powerful and controllable non-invasive brain stimulation technologies. HIVE will develop improved electrical current distribution and multi-scale neuron-current interaction models and carry out stimulation experiments using tDCS, TMS, EEG and fMRI in different scenarios, and based on these develop multisite transcranial current stimulation technologies implementing real time EEG monitoring and feedback.

Here are a few of the problems with current technology that they mention;

• Poor understanding of the effects of stimulation at the neuron and neuronal ensemble level: the project will investigate the biophysics of stimulation at the theoretical, computational and experimental level––both in humans and animals.
• Unfocused, un-precise stimulation technologies: an important objective of this project is to develop new multisite electromagnetic non-invasive stimulation paradigms to implement more controllable and effective stimulation technologies and applications. The project will develop a Multisite transcranial Current Stimulation and monitoring prototype (MtCS) for finer control of current flows in the brain and subsequently explore related applications.
• Limited animal and human stimulation experimental work: the project will explore new stimulation paradigms to communicate and interact with neural ensembles and the human brain.

Brain stimulation devices that are controlled by computers already exist to a certain extent. This work will continue that trend. The next step is making improved brain-computer interfaces that directly manipulate the brain. Perhaps this could be done with small enough ultrasound transducers implanted on top of the head to selectively stimulate discrete brain regions anywhere. Maybe you would even use a brain computer interface that learns over time to perfect the interaction with the mind and couple it with some sort of brain reading device.

What would our consciousness be like if we were to interface with a computer? I think it could potentially be radically different depending on how refined the technology was. A computer would be able to coordinate activity in multiple brain regions at a time. Any perceptual qualia could be modulated, possibly by upregulating or downregulating brain activity in specific areas. This type of interface might entail altering the salience of food taste, improving visual working memory capacity, increasing empathic understanding or even enhancing spiritual awareness. As we move toward programmable brain matter, the future of consciousness will be truly awesome.