Digital Scryer

No this isn’t powered exo-armor a la Iron Man, it’s more of a flexible support frame to help the disabled stand and walk again. I found the article today after my fiance and I were discussing a guest speaker she recently interviewed, and it piqued my interest. My comments are in bold italics and the article can be found here.

There is new hope for people who have been paralyzed with the invention of a so-called orthopedic “armor”, which is defying doctors’ prognoses by allowing patients to both stand and walk.

I hardly think that this is a fair statement. Doctor’s prognoses in these situations is that the people will never walk again under their own power or without assistance. Kinda sensationalistic if you ask me.

This piece of sculpture is designed to fit its customer perfectly. Made of a plastic-like material and placed around a steel skeleton, the simple device is called “armor for the disabled”.

I’m glad they put “armor” in quotes as it wouldn’t really protect much.

Just one small step contradicts everything the doctors have been telling Aleksey Filatov ever since he was paralyzed in a car accident.

It’s not really contradicting, as the doctors in question probably never said “You’ll never walk again, even with help from an exo-frame of some kind.”

He still can’t feel his feet, but with his armor he can walk on them.

“Unlike similar devices this device is very light and it doesn’t take a lot of time to put it on. It helps to get into the car and use the wheelchair much less. It can also be worn under trousers,” Aleksey says.

The fact that it’s lightweight is amazing, as is the fact that it’s portable enough to be worn under your pants.

“Armor” Production Begins With Making A Plaster Cast

The invention is the brainchild of another disabled man, also called Aleksey. Eight years of being confined to bed left him determined to prove the doctors wrong.

“The armor is not going to help you jump or play football. But they can allow you to do some things which were previously inaccessible. To allow people to stand up is very important. It helps to solve the psychological problems of the disabled,” says Aleksey Nalogin, inventor of the armor for the disabled.

Now THIS I vastly agree with. Innumerable studies have shown how bolstering the psychological condition helps ALL kinds of patients, especially paralyzed ones. The hope and drive to keep going and function properly truly does make the healing process work. I’ve seen too many paralyzed people fight their way back into functioning after their doctors told them they’d never be able to speak again, let alone move, to believe otherwise.

Now his armor is available to anyone who needs it. Aleksey’s invention is already helping children, and the doctors say the armor has shown impressive results.

The fact that this is widely available is most amazing. The act of pantomiming proper movement encourages the growth and function of nerve cells, and this can only help more.

“The beauty of Aleksey’s invention is that each piece of armor is handmade to fit the patient perfectly. After production the armor is adjusted on the patient several times to guarantee the best medical effect. That’s something similar devices made on the production line cannot do,” says sports doctor Dmitry Kiselev.

What sucks about this is that mass production is what allows things to be done cheaply. Every piece having to be custom made is going to drive the prices up and the availability down. Some engineers should tackle this and figure out a way to cheaply and easily make the frame more customizable so that it can be just as useful if mass produced.

Aleksey says being disabled in Russia is difficult. Public transport and streets are not fully equipped for those who are physically impaired, but the inventor says this armor is a step towards making Russia disabled-friendly.


Not just Russia my friends, the whole world. My Grandpa was a paraplegic and I can only imagine how this device would have helped him. Now let’s see this idea grow and spread, not get shelved like so many others.

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Technorati Tags: Armor, Brainchild, Car Accident, exoarmor, exoframe, Flexible Support, Invention, Iron Man, Lightweight, New Hope, Orthopedic, Paralysis, Paralyzed, Paraplegic, Plaster Cast, Prognoses, Quadriplegic, Sculpture, Steel Skeleton, Support Frame, Wheelchair

Network World released this article a week ago about new applications for currently existing technology and how it can be used to steal data in a way you wouldn’t think of. My comments are in bold italics.

If attackers intent on data theft can tap into an electrical socket near a computer or if they can draw a bead on the machine with a laser, they can steal whatever is being typed into it.

This makes pretty much EVERY computer out there a potential target.

How to execute these attacks will be demonstrated at the Black Hat USA 2009 security conference in Las Vegas later this month by Andrea Barisani and Daniele Bianco, a pair of researchers for network security consultancy Inverse Path.

The Black Hat conference is something I’ve always wanted to attend, but sadly have never had the time to.

“The only thing you need for successful attacks are either the electrical grid or a distant line of sight, no expensive piece of equipment is required,” Barisani and Bianco say in a paper describing the hacks.

Anyone can MacGuyver their way into being major data thieves.

The equipment to carry out the power-line attack could cost as little as $500, and the laser attack gear costs about $100 if the attacker already owns a laptop with a sound card, says Barisani. Carrying out the attacks took about a week, he says.

It makes sense that the power-line attack equipment would be more expensive, the laser gear seems to work on laser bounce principles. Similar to how those listening devices work. Although this seems highly less reliable to me than the electrical version.

More and more as people are getting different implants for things (like the folks who get magnets implanted in their pinkies so they can be living compasses), I’m wondering if you couldn’t learn how to do this mentally after getting some kind of electro-receptive implant put into you.

Read the whole article HERE

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Wired magazine recently came out with this article on how once neural implants and prosthetics become more commonplace, they will also be open to hacking. My comments are in bold italics.

Hackers who commandeer your computer are bad enough. Now scientists worry that someday, they’ll try to take over your brain.

In the past year, researchers have developed technology that makes it possible to use thoughts to operate a computer, maneuver a wheelchair or even use Twitter — all without lifting a finger. But as neural devices become more complicated, and go wireless, some scientists say the risks of “brain hacking” should be taken seriously.

How You Can Control Computers Mentally

This is some scary stuff, very Orwellian

“Neural devices are innovating at an extremely rapid rate and hold tremendous promise for the future,” said computer security expert Tadayoshi Kohno of the University of Washington.

“But if we don’t start paying attention to security, we’re worried that we might find ourselves in five or 10 years saying we’ve made a big mistake.”

Understatement of the year.

Hackers tap into personal computers all the time. But what would happen if they focused their nefarious energy on neural devices, such as the deep-brain stimulators used to treat Parkinson’s and depression, or electrode systems for controlling prosthetic limbs?

For one how about if the anti-depression brain zappers were instead used to incite other emotions, such as love for certain politicians, or hatred for certain peoples. This could be accomplished by stimulating these emotions during campaign commercials, or news stories.

According to Kohno and his colleagues, who published their concerns July 1 in Neurosurgical Focus, most devices carry few security risks. But as neural engineering becomes more complex and more widespread, the potential for security breaches will mushroom.

This I agree with, but not just for those of us with implants; transcranial magnetic stimulation is becoming smaller, easier, and more focused. Plus you better believe somebody somewhere is working on doing it from a distance. Imagine the disaster when someone shoots you with an “awe and worship” beam while showing you pictures of Swastikas and Nazi propaganda? It’s insanely paranoid talk, but some of the tech already exists and more is on the way.

“It’s very hard to design complex systems that don’t have bugs,” Kohno said. “As these medical devices start to become more and more complicated, it gets easier and easier for people to overlook a bug that could become a very serious risk. It might border on science fiction today, but so did going to the moon 50 years ago.”

So in 15 years Norton will be popping up in our retinas asking if we want to renew our “Norton Impl-Ant-i Virus”. FYI Norton if you’re reading this, when you come out with an antivirus for neural implants, I want a cut if you use that name.

Some might question why anyone would want to hack into someone else’s brain, but the researchers say there’s a precedent for using computers to cause neurological harm. In November 2007 and March 2008, malicious programmers vandalized epilepsy support Web sites by putting up flashing animations, which caused seizures in some photo-sensitive patients.

How about “thought viruses” that turn entire groups of people into cultists? Or just plain willingly hand over their money to hackers? Or hold their feelings for ransom? I’m going to stop giving out ideas by citing hypothetical scenarios.

“It happened on two separate occasions,” said computer science graduate student Tamara Denning, a co-author on the paper. “It’s evidence that people will be malicious and try to compromise peoples’ health using computers, especially if neural devices become more widespread.”

A new brand of criminals that will need a new brand of cops.

A New Brand Of Cop

In some cases, patients might even want to hack into their own neural device. Unlike devices to control prosthetic limbs, which still use wires, many deep brain stimulators already rely on wireless signals. Hacking into these devices could enable patients to “self-prescribe” elevated moods or pain relief by increasing the activity of the brain’s reward centers.

This, like most things, would be great in moderation. Who wouldn’t like to just give themselves a pick-me-up when they’re feeling down? The problem would be those of us that decided to give ourselves several consecutive days of orgasmic bliss, and then starved to death by forgetting to eat. It reminds me of BTL chips from Shadowrun or “the wire” from that scifi book series I can’t remember the name of.

Despite the risks, Kohno said, most new devices aren’t created with security in mind. Neural engineers carefully consider the safety and reliability of new equipment, and neuroethicists focus on whether a new device fits ethical guidelines. But until now, few groups have considered how neural devices might be hijacked to perform unintended actions. This is the first time an academic paper has addressed the topic of “neurosecurity,” a term the group coined to describe their field.

I think it’ll be with in my lifetime that human puppet shows will become reality. Watch Ghost in the Shell or most other things by Masamune Shirow and you’ll see what I’m getting at.

“The security and privacy issues somehow seem to slip by,” Kohno said. “I would not be surprised if most people working in this space have never thought about security.”

Kevin Otto, a bioengineer who studies brain-machine interfaces at Purdue Universty, said he was initially skeptical of the research. “When I first picked up the paper, I don’t know if I agreed that it was an issue. But the paper gives a very compelling argument that this is important, and that this is the time to have neural engineers collaborate with security developers.”

Of course it is! It’ll open up another trillion dollar industry, full of fear mongering used to attract customers.

It’s never too early to start thinking about security issues, said neural engineer Justin Williams of the University of Wisconsin, who was not involved in the research. But he stressed that the kinds of devices available today are not susceptible to attack, and that fear of future risks shouldn’t impede progress in the field. “These kinds of security issues have to proceed in lockstep with the technology,” Williams said.

Not susceptible to attack, unless the brainwashing lasers I came up with earlier in the article are used. All it’ll take is someone with lots of money and little ethics. Maybe the fears of future risks SHOULD impede progress in this field. Handle as many foreseeable security issues as you possibly can before you try to move on, as Kohno says further down.

History provides plenty of examples of why it’s important to think about security before it becomes a problem, Kohno said. Perhaps the best example is the Internet, which was originally conceived as a research project and didn’t take security into account.

See?

“Because the Internet was not originally designed with security in mind,” the researchers wrote, “it is incredibly challenging — if not impossible — to retrofit the existing Internet infrastructure to meet all of today’s security goals.” Kohno and his colleagues hope to avoid such problems in the neural device world, by getting the community to discuss potential security problems before they become a reality.

“The first thing is to ask ourselves is, ‘Could there be a security and privacy problem?’” Kohno said. “Asking ‘Is there a problem?’ gets you 90 percent there, and that’s the most important thing.”

I think that my commentary alone suggests that YES there is in fact a problem. Now it’s just up to the big dogs to solve them as best they can before they happen.

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