First step into the matrix?

According to Pink Tentacle:

Researchers from Japan’s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have developed new brain analysis technology that can reconstruct the images inside a person’s mind and display them on a computer monitor...
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Subjects were shown 400 random 10 x 10 pixel black-and-white images for a period of 12 seconds each. While the fMRI machine monitored the changes in brain activity, a computer crunched the data and learned to associate the various changes in brain activity with the different image designs.

Then, when the test subjects were shown a completely new set of images, such as the letters N-E-U-R-O-N, the system was able to reconstruct and display what the test subjects were viewing based solely on their brain activity.
full article

This sort of "mind reading" technology has fantastic potential for fields ranging from neurology to psychiatry. However, there are dour implications for its use in the hands of the irresponsibly wealthy e.g. governments.

ht: boingboing