Know thyself, with a brain scanner | Ariel Garten | TEDxToronto
-
0:06 - 0:11The maxim, "Know thyself"
has been around since the ancient Greeks. -
0:11 - 0:16Some attribute this golden world
knowledge to Plato, others to Pythagoras. -
0:16 - 0:19But the truth is it doesn't really matter
which sage said it first, -
0:19 - 0:22because it's still
sage advice, even today. -
0:23 - 0:24"Know thyself."
-
0:24 - 0:28It's pithy almost to the point
of being meaningless, -
0:28 - 0:31but it rings familiar
and true, doesn't it? -
0:32 - 0:33"Know thyself."
-
0:35 - 0:38I understand this timeless dictum
as a statement about the problems, -
0:38 - 0:41or more exactly, the confusions,
of consciousness. -
0:42 - 0:44I've always been fascinated
with knowing the self. -
0:44 - 0:46This fascination led me
to submerge myself in art, -
0:46 - 0:50study neuroscience,
and later, to become a psychotherapist. -
0:50 - 0:54Today I combine all my passions
as the CEO of InteraXon, -
0:54 - 0:56a thought-controlled computing company.
-
0:56 - 1:01My goal, quite simply, is to help people
become more in tune with themselves. -
1:01 - 1:05I take it from this
little dictum, "Know thyself." -
1:05 - 1:07If you think about it,
-
1:07 - 1:11this imperative is kind of the defining
characteristic of our species, isn't it? -
1:12 - 1:14I mean, it's self-awareness
-
1:14 - 1:17that separates Homo sapiens
from earlier instances of our mankind. -
1:19 - 1:21Today we're often too busy
-
1:21 - 1:26tending to our iPhones and iPods
to really stop and get to know ourselves. -
1:26 - 1:29Under the deluge of minute-to-minute
text conversations, -
1:29 - 1:32e-mails, relentless exchange
of media channels -
1:32 - 1:35and passwords and apps
and reminders and Tweets and tags, -
1:35 - 1:38we lose sight of what all this fuss is
supposed to be about in the first place: -
1:38 - 1:40Ourselves.
-
1:40 - 1:42Much of the time we're transfixed
-
1:42 - 1:45by all of the ways we can reflect
ourselves out into the world. -
1:45 - 1:51And we can barely find the time to reflect
deeply back in on our own selves. -
1:52 - 1:55We've cluttered ourselves up
with all this. -
1:55 - 1:58And we feel like we have to get
far, far away to a secluded retreat, -
1:58 - 2:00leaving it all behind.
-
2:00 - 2:03So we go far away
to the top of a mountain, -
2:03 - 2:05assuming that perching
ourselves on a piece -
2:05 - 2:10is bound to give us the respite we need
to sort the clutter, the chaotic everyday, -
2:10 - 2:11and find ourselves again.
-
2:12 - 2:16But on that mountain where we gain
that beautiful peace of mind, -
2:17 - 2:18what are we really achieving?
-
2:19 - 2:23It's really only a successful escape.
-
2:24 - 2:25Think of the term we use, "Retreat."
-
2:26 - 2:28This is the term that armies use
when they've lost a battle. -
2:28 - 2:30It means we've got to get out of here.
-
2:30 - 2:33Is this how we feel
about the pressures of our world, -
2:33 - 2:35that in order to get inside ourselves,
-
2:35 - 2:36you have to run for the hills?
-
2:37 - 2:40And the problem with escaping
your day-to-day life -
2:40 - 2:42is that you have to come home, eventually.
-
2:44 - 2:45So when you think about it,
-
2:45 - 2:50we're almost like a tourist
visiting ourselves over there. -
2:50 - 2:52And eventually, that vacation's got
to come to an end. -
2:53 - 2:56So my question to you is,
-
2:56 - 3:00can we find ways to know ourselves
without the escape? -
3:00 - 3:04Can we redefine our relationship
with the technologized world -
3:04 - 3:08in order to have the heightened
sense of self-awareness that we seek? -
3:08 - 3:11Can we live here and now in our wired web
-
3:11 - 3:16and still follow those ancient
instructions, "Know thyself?" -
3:17 - 3:19I say the answer is yes.
-
3:19 - 3:21And I'm here today to share a new way
-
3:21 - 3:23that we're working
with technology to this end, -
3:23 - 3:27to get familiar with our inner self
like never before... -
3:27 - 3:31Humanizing technology
and furthering that age-old quest of ours -
3:31 - 3:33to more fully know the self.
-
3:35 - 3:38It's called thought-controlled computing.
-
3:41 - 3:43You may or may not have noticed
-
3:43 - 3:45that I'm wearing a tiny
electrode on my forehead. -
3:45 - 3:47This is actually a brainwave sensor
-
3:47 - 3:49that's reading the electrical
activity of my brain -
3:49 - 3:50as I give this talk.
-
3:51 - 3:54These brainwaves are being analyzed
and we can see them as a graph. -
3:55 - 3:58That blue line there is my brainwave.
-
3:58 - 4:02It's the direct signal being recorded
from my head, rendered in real time. -
4:02 - 4:05The green and red bars show
that same signal displayed by frequency, -
4:05 - 4:07with lower frequencies here
-
4:07 - 4:09and higher frequencies up here.
-
4:10 - 4:13You're actually looking
inside my head as I speak. -
4:14 - 4:17These graphs are compelling,
they're undulating, -
4:17 - 4:20but from a human's perspective,
they're actually not very useful. -
4:21 - 4:23That's why we've spent a lot of time
-
4:23 - 4:27thinking about how to make this data
meaningful to the people who use it. -
4:27 - 4:29For instance,
-
4:29 - 4:33what if I could use this data to find out
how relaxed I am at any moment? -
4:33 - 4:34Or what if I can take that information
-
4:34 - 4:37and put it into an organic
shape up on the screen? -
4:41 - 4:43The shape on the right over here
-
4:43 - 4:45has become an indicator
of what's going on in my head. -
4:45 - 4:47The more relaxed I am,
-
4:47 - 4:49the more the energy's going
to fall through it. -
4:49 - 4:52I may also be interested in knowing
how focused I am, -
4:52 - 4:56so I can put my level of attention
into the circuit board on the other side. -
4:56 - 4:58And the more focused my brain is,
-
4:58 - 5:01the more the circuit board
is going to surge with energy. -
5:02 - 5:05Ordinarily, I would have no way
of knowing how focused or relaxed I was -
5:05 - 5:07in any tangible way.
-
5:08 - 5:10As we know, our feelings
about how we're feeling -
5:10 - 5:12are notoriously unreliable.
-
5:12 - 5:15We've all had stress creep up
on us without even noticing it -
5:15 - 5:17until we lost it on someone
who didn't deserve it, -
5:17 - 5:21and then we realize that we probably
should have checked in with ourselves -
5:21 - 5:22a little earlier.
-
5:22 - 5:25This new awareness
opens up vast possibilities -
5:25 - 5:28for applications that help
improve our lives and ourselves. -
5:29 - 5:32We're trying to create technology
that uses the insights -
5:32 - 5:35to make our work more efficient,
our breaks more relaxing -
5:35 - 5:38and our connections deeper
and more fulfilling than ever. -
5:39 - 5:42I'm going to share some of these
visions with you in a bit, -
5:42 - 5:44but first I want to take
a look at how we got here. -
5:44 - 5:48By the way, feel free to check
in on my head at any time. -
5:48 - 5:50(Laughter)
-
5:50 - 5:51My team at InteraXon and I
-
5:51 - 5:55have been developing thought-controlled
application for almost a decade now. -
5:55 - 5:57In the first phase of development,
-
5:57 - 6:00we were really enthused by all the things
we could control with our mind. -
6:00 - 6:04We were making things activate,
light up and work just by thinking. -
6:05 - 6:09We were transcending the space
between the mind and the device. -
6:09 - 6:12We brought to life a vast array
of prototypes and products -
6:12 - 6:14that you could control with your mind,
-
6:14 - 6:16like thought-controlled home appliances
-
6:16 - 6:20or slot-car games or video games
or a levitating chair. -
6:20 - 6:24We created technology and applications
that engaged people's imaginations, -
6:24 - 6:26and it was really exciting.
-
6:27 - 6:31And then we were asked to do something
really big for the Olympics. -
6:31 - 6:33We were invited to create
a massive installation -
6:33 - 6:35at the Vancouver 2010 winter Olympics,
-
6:35 - 6:37were used in Vancouver,
-
6:37 - 6:40got to control the lighting
on the CN Tower, -
6:40 - 6:42the Canadian Parliament
buildings and Niagara Falls -
6:43 - 6:46from all the way across the country
using their minds. -
6:47 - 6:50Over 17 days at the Olympics,
7,000 visitors from all over the world -
6:50 - 6:52actually got to individually
control the light -
6:52 - 6:55from the CN Tower, parliament
and Niagara in real time -
6:55 - 6:58with their minds from across
the country, 3,000 km away. -
6:59 - 7:02So controlling stuff
with your mind is pretty cool. -
7:03 - 7:06But we're always interested in multitiered
levels of human interaction. -
7:06 - 7:10And so we began looking into inventing
thought-controlled applications -
7:10 - 7:12in a more complex frame than just control.
-
7:13 - 7:15And that was responsiveness.
-
7:16 - 7:18We realized that we had a system
-
7:18 - 7:20that allowed technology
to know something about you. -
7:20 - 7:23And it could join
into the relationship with you. -
7:24 - 7:26We created the responsive room
-
7:26 - 7:29where the lights, music and blinds
adjusted to your state. -
7:29 - 7:32They followed these little shifts
in your mental activity. -
7:32 - 7:35So as you settled into relaxation
at the end of a hard day, -
7:35 - 7:37on the couch in our office,
-
7:37 - 7:39the music would mellow with you.
-
7:39 - 7:41When you read, the desk lamp
would get brighter. -
7:41 - 7:46If you nod off, the system would know,
dimming to darkness as you do. -
7:48 - 7:52We then realized that if technology
could know something about you -
7:52 - 7:53and use it to help you,
-
7:53 - 7:56there's an even more valuable
application than that. -
7:56 - 7:59That you could know
something about yourself. -
8:00 - 8:03We could know sides of ourselves
that were all but invisible -
8:03 - 8:05and come to see things
that were previously hidden. -
8:06 - 8:09Let me show you an example
of what I'm talking about here. -
8:09 - 8:13I do have a video of an application
I created for the iPad. -
8:14 - 8:19So the goal of the original game Zen Bound
is to wrap a rope around a wooden form. -
8:19 - 8:20So you use it with your headset.
-
8:21 - 8:23The headset connects wirelessly
to an iPad or a smartphone. -
8:23 - 8:28In that headset, you have fabric sensors
on your forehead and above the ear. -
8:28 - 8:29In the original Zen Bound game,
-
8:29 - 8:32you play it by scrolling
your fingers over the pad. -
8:32 - 8:34In the game that we created, of course,
-
8:34 - 8:38you control the wooden form
that's on the screen there with your mind. -
8:38 - 8:40As you focus on the wooden form,
-
8:40 - 8:42it rotates.
-
8:43 - 8:46The more you focus,
the faster the rotation. -
8:47 - 8:48This is for real.
-
8:48 - 8:50This is not a fake.
-
8:51 - 8:53What's really interesting to me though
-
8:53 - 8:57is at the end of the game, you get stats
and feedback about how you did. -
8:57 - 9:01You have graphs and charts
that tell you how your brain was doing... -
9:01 - 9:04Not just how much rope you used
or what your high score is, -
9:04 - 9:08but what was going on inside of your mind.
-
9:08 - 9:10And this is valuable feedback
-
9:10 - 9:15that we can use to understand
what's going on inside of ourselves. -
9:17 - 9:20I like to call this "intra-active."
-
9:21 - 9:24Normally, we think
about technology as interactive. -
9:24 - 9:27This technology is intra-active.
-
9:28 - 9:32It understands what's inside of you
-
9:32 - 9:34and builds a sort
of responsive relationship -
9:34 - 9:36between you and your technology
-
9:37 - 9:41so that you can use this information
to move you forward. -
9:41 - 9:46So you can use this information
to understand you in a responsive loop. -
9:47 - 9:48For example,
-
9:48 - 9:51a thought controlled computer
can teach children with ADD -
9:51 - 9:53how to improve their focus.
-
9:53 - 9:58With ADD, children have a low proportion
of beta waves, or focus state, -
9:58 - 10:00and high proportion of theta states.
-
10:00 - 10:03So you can create applications
that reward focused brain states. -
10:03 - 10:06So you can imagine kids playing
video games with their brain waves -
10:06 - 10:09and improving their ADD
symptoms as they do it. -
10:09 - 10:11This can be as effective as Ritalin.
-
10:12 - 10:13Perhaps even more importantly,
-
10:13 - 10:16thought-controlled computing
can give children with ADD -
10:16 - 10:19insights into their own fluctuating
mental states, -
10:19 - 10:23so they can better understand themselves
and their learning needs. -
10:23 - 10:27The way these children will be able to use
their new awareness to improve themselves -
10:27 - 10:30will upend many of the damaging
and widespread social stigmas -
10:30 - 10:34that people who are diagnosed
as different are challenged with. -
10:36 - 10:38We can peer inside our heads
-
10:38 - 10:41and interact with what was once
locked away from us, -
10:41 - 10:43what once mystified and separated us.
-
10:45 - 10:48Brainwave technology can understand us,
anticipate our emotions -
10:48 - 10:50and find the best solutions for our needs.
-
10:51 - 10:54Imagine this collected
awareness of the individual -
10:54 - 10:56computed and reflected
across an entire lifespan. -
10:57 - 11:00Imagine the insights that you can gain
from this kind of second sight. -
11:01 - 11:04It would be like plugging
into your own personal Google. -
11:04 - 11:05On the subject of Google,
-
11:05 - 11:07today you can search and tag images
-
11:07 - 11:11based on the thoughts and feelings
you had while you watched them. -
11:11 - 11:13You can tag pictures
of baby animals as happy, -
11:13 - 11:16or whatever baby animals are to you,
-
11:16 - 11:20and then you can search that database,
navigating with your feelings, -
11:20 - 11:22rather than the keywords
that just hint at them. -
11:22 - 11:25Or you could tag Facebook photos
-
11:25 - 11:29with the emotions that you had
associated with those memories -
11:29 - 11:33and then instantly prioritize
the streams that catch your attention, -
11:34 - 11:35just like this.
-
11:36 - 11:39Humanizing technology
is about taking what's already natural -
11:39 - 11:41about the human-tech experience
-
11:41 - 11:44and building technology
seamlessly in tandem with it. -
11:44 - 11:47As it aligns with our human behaviors,
-
11:47 - 11:50it can allow us to make
better sense of what we do -
11:50 - 11:52and, more importantly, why.
-
11:53 - 11:56Creating a big picture
out of all the important little details -
11:56 - 11:57that make up who we are.
-
11:59 - 12:02With humanized technology we can monitor
the quality of your sleep cycles. -
12:03 - 12:07When our productivity starts to slacken,
we can go back to that data -
12:07 - 12:11and see how we can make more effective
balance between work and play. -
12:12 - 12:16Do you know what causes fatigue in you
or what brings out your energetic self, -
12:16 - 12:18what triggers cause you to be depressed
-
12:18 - 12:22or what fun things are going
to bring you out of that funk? -
12:23 - 12:25Imagine if you had access to data
-
12:25 - 12:28that allowed you to rank
on a scale of overall happiness -
12:28 - 12:31which people in your life
made you the happiest, -
12:32 - 12:34or what activities brought you joy.
-
12:34 - 12:37Would you make more time for those people?
Would you prioritize? -
12:37 - 12:39Would you get a divorce?
-
12:39 - 12:40(Laughter)
-
12:40 - 12:43What thought-controlled computing
can allow you to do -
12:43 - 12:45is build colorful layered
pictures of our lives. -
12:45 - 12:49And with this, we can get the skinny
on our psychological happenings -
12:49 - 12:51and build a story
of our behaviors over time. -
12:52 - 12:55We can begin to see the underlying
narratives that propel us forward -
12:55 - 12:58and tell us about what's going on.
-
12:58 - 13:03And from this, we can learn
how to change the plot, the outcome -
13:03 - 13:06and the character of our personal stories.
-
13:08 - 13:12Two millennia ago, those Greeks
had some powerful insights. -
13:13 - 13:15They knew that a fundamental
piece falls into place -
13:15 - 13:18when you start to live
out their little phrase, -
13:18 - 13:20when you come into contact with yourself.
-
13:21 - 13:24They understood the power
of human narrative -
13:24 - 13:28and the value that we place on humans
as changing, evolving and growing. -
13:28 - 13:31But they understood something
more fundamental... -
13:32 - 13:34The sheer joy in discovery,
-
13:35 - 13:38the delight and fascination
that we get from the world -
13:38 - 13:39and being ourselves in it;
-
13:40 - 13:45the richness that we get from seeing,
feeling and knowing the lives that we are. -
13:47 - 13:48My mom's an artist,
-
13:48 - 13:52and as a child, I'd often see her bring
things to life with the stroke of a brush. -
13:52 - 13:55One moment, it was
all white space, pure possibility. -
13:55 - 13:58The next, it was alive
with her colorful ideas and expressions. -
13:59 - 14:04As I sat easel-side, watching her
transform canvas after canvas, -
14:05 - 14:07I learned that you could
create your own world. -
14:08 - 14:11I learned that our own inner worlds...
-
14:11 - 14:14Our ideas, emotions and imaginations...
-
14:14 - 14:16Were, in fact, not bound
by our brains and bodies. -
14:17 - 14:20If you could think it,
if you could discover it, -
14:20 - 14:22you could bring it to life.
-
14:23 - 14:25To me, thought-controlled computing
-
14:26 - 14:28is as simple and powerful
as a paintbrush... -
14:28 - 14:31One more tool to unlock and enliven
the hidden worlds within us. -
14:32 - 14:37I look forward to the day
that I can sit beside you, easel-side, -
14:37 - 14:41watching the world that we can create
with our new toolboxes -
14:41 - 14:44and the discoveries
that we can make about ourselves. -
14:46 - 14:47Thank you.
-
14:47 - 14:49(Applause)
- Title:
- Know thyself, with a brain scanner | Ariel Garten | TEDxToronto
- Description:
-
Imagine playing a video game controlled by your mind. Now imagine that game also teaches you about your own patterns of stress, relaxation and focus. Ariel Garten shows how looking at our own brain activity gives new meaning to the ancient dictum "know thyself."
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 14:51
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TED Translators admin accepted English subtitles for Know thyself, with a brain scanner | Ariel Garten | TEDxToronto | ||
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Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Know thyself, with a brain scanner | Ariel Garten | TEDxToronto | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Know thyself, with a brain scanner | Ariel Garten | TEDxToronto | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Know thyself, with a brain scanner | Ariel Garten | TEDxToronto | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Know thyself, with a brain scanner | Ariel Garten | TEDxToronto |