"The Ideal is the Beauty and the Beast Dinner Scene" neurowear Roundtable Discussion: Part 2

"The Future of Communication Unlocked by Biometric Signals" Part 10 continues from last time with a talk session featuring Mr. Kagaya, Mr. Kamiya, Mr. Tsuchiya, and Mr. Nakano. This time, they discussed the near future and their respective aspirations for the future.

People are starting to empathize with robot vacuum cleaners

Kamiya: Let's talk about the future next. We started this project just over three years ago. I wonder what things will be like three years from now.

Kagaya: I've mentioned this elsewhere, but CPU processing speeds increase about 50-fold every three years. When high-end processors get 50 times faster, low-end ones become smaller, more power-efficient, and their prices drop dramatically. This means sensors will be built into all sorts of things, transmitting information. And I think we'll be able to access that data via software.

Tsuchiya: For example, a key point of IPv6 is preventing IP address exhaustion. The common analogy is that even if you assigned an IP address to every single grain of sand on a beach, they wouldn't run out. We might actually reach that kind of state.

Kamiya: Currently, devices are linked to smartphones, but I think they'll become standalone.

Kagaya: Furthermore , the real shift might be when these devices connect like a swarm intelligence and start creating functions on their own. Like when you use the air conditioner, microwave, and hair dryer simultaneously at home, the circuit breaker trips, right? If we could simply grasp the power consumption of each device, we could at least manage it. I think it will start at that level.

Tsuchiya: Like detecting people and turning on the air conditioner. Or temporarily boosting the power supply for a moment.

Kamiya: So it's about collecting data, distributing it smartly, and controlling the whole system holistically?

Kagaya: To put it abstractly , I don't think it'll be managed by some central computer. I think it'll move toward things intelligently linking together.

Tsuchiya: The objects themselves will sense various information and autonomously optimize themselves for the environment. You know that saying about the internet: "If you reduce n clicks to 1 click, it becomes a service; if you reduce 1 click to 0 clicks, it becomes a revolution." I feel that as more things become intelligent and start acting autonomously, more and more things will become 0-click. As this evolves, humans might end up doing nothing...

Nakano: The ideal is the dinner scene from "Beauty and the Beast."

Kamiya: Huh?

Tsuchiya: Like the teapot dancing?

Nakano: Exactly. They think for themselves and offer hospitality. Also, there's this manga called "The Quiet Sea" by Yuko Ichijo, where every single thing in the house has its own thoughts—furniture complaining to each other, caring about humans, silly fantasies. If it's just smart like humans, it'd probably be boring. I want them to occasionally just start dancing or something.

Tsuchiya: Speaking of that, it's interesting that people are starting to project emotions onto robot vacuums. They sense "humanity" in the robot vacuum's behavior—it's the same phenomenon as when that high school girl cried when her Tamagotchi died. Even though it's just following a program, we project emotions onto it. That's the power of human imagination, right?

Kagaya: The core technology in robot vacuums is swarm intelligence, right? Multiple sensors work together to create biological-like behavior. Maybe we're entering a phase where technology, or rather machines, are incorporating the information processing inherent to life.

Humans are far more complex clusters of sensors than we imagine.

Tsuchiya: As computer processing power increases, I think computers will start to understand human behavior better than humans do. They'll understand and learn things like habits we're not even aware of, or the cause-and-effect relationships in our actions. Advertising targeting is already doing exactly that. I get the feeling that machines, like home appliances, might start to read our unconscious minds.

Kagaya: I recently heard something from Joey (Joi Ito, Director of MIT Media Lab) in San Francisco . In one experiment, when subjects listened to a tape mixing their own voice with someone else's, they misidentified which was which. But when skin reactions were measured, the parasympathetic nervous system always reacted to their own voice. In other words, while the conscious mind can be deceived, the subconscious mind remains aware. The information held by this unconscious mind might be far greater than we realize. Joey suggested that design and service concepts targeting this unconscious mind could become increasingly valuable going forward.

Tsuchiya: That's incredibly interesting. Humans are far more sensory-rich than we imagine. If we can effectively integrate and leverage that into computing, fascinating things should emerge. I found the work "Silk Pavilion" by the Mediated Matter research group at MIT Media Lab fascinating. They release 6,500 silkworms into a specially designed polyhedral tent-like structure. The silkworms then try to make cocoons, resulting in a polyhedral silk tent. It's essentially natural 3D printing created through the behavior of insects. Using biological signals is similar – it's about harnessing the advanced sensory capabilities humans possess for computing.

Nakano: As people age, their behavior and consciousness become more socially conditioned, right? But I think that actually gets in the way of protecting the body, making decisions, and doing what truly needs to be done. Watching my own child, the night before he catches a cold, even without a fever, he'll sleep-talk, calling out, "Mama! Mama!" His body knows his condition is about to deteriorate. Adults tend to shut down the cries of their body or mind that they should be noticing, saying "I'm fine, I'm healthy." But if we could understand our true inner voice through these biological signals, I think that would be incredibly meaningful.

"How to build a utopia" is what we should be thinking about.

Kamiya: Finally, let's wrap up with what each of us wants to pursue next. Lately, I've become interested in hypnosis. By scientifically unraveling the subconscious mind, much like we do with brainwaves, I think we could, for example, alleviate physical pain or steer the world a bit more toward happiness. Hypnosis still carries a somewhat dubious reputation, so I want to dispel that.

Tsuchiya: We conducted hypnosis experiments while measuring brain waves, and it actually works. It was fascinating.

Kagaya: What I want to pursue is creating services or products that use technology to help people notice things they hadn't realized before, or accurately seize opportunities they might otherwise miss. I'd like to create a system that makes it easier to create serendipity, or perhaps just improves one's luck.

Tsuchiya: I think it would be fascinating to redefine the meaning of existing media. mico is a pair of headphones that curate music, and I hope the experience itself becomes "music." Until now, music meant listening to live performances, hearing it on the radio, buying records you liked, then CDs, then digital data. Eventually, if putting on headphones means hearing songs perfectly tailored to you, I believe that could redefine what music means. Currently, listening to music has a fixed meaning: you need a sound source and a device to listen. I think it would be wonderful to create something that makes that meaning fluid.

Nakano: Until now, we've envisioned the future by using brainwaves to make "feelings" visible. Thinking about what comes next, first, time and distance are having their boundaries eroded by the internet. Now, the boundaries between a person's inner and outer worlds, and between self and other, are becoming increasingly blurred by social networks and sensors. This trend is probably unstoppable, so I think what we should be considering is how to turn that into a utopia.
Furthermore, I believe the algorithms inherent in humans—our senses, intuition, and such—are remarkably sophisticated. I want to create tools that not only extend these capabilities but also help bring them up from the subconscious.