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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
 Posted - 10/26/2005 : 10:52:52
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I thought this was pretty wild.
quote:
Just imagine being rendered the rough equivalent of a radio-controlled toy car.
A special headset was placed on my cranium by my hosts during a recent demonstration at an NTT research center. It sent a very low voltage electric current from the back of my ears through my head _ either from left to right or right to left, depending on which way the joystick on a remote-control was moved.
I found the experience unnerving and exhausting: I sought to step straight ahead but kept careening from side to side. Those alternating currents literally threw me off.
The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation — essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance.
I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced — mistakenly — that this was the only way to maintain my balance.
The phenomenon is painless but dramatic. Your feet start to move before you know it. I could even remote-control myself by taking the switch into my own hands.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2005 : 11:16:40 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by H. Humbert
I thought this was pretty wild.
quote:
Just imagine being rendered the rough equivalent of a radio-controlled toy car.
A special headset was placed on my cranium by my hosts during a recent demonstration at an NTT research center. It sent a very low voltage electric current from the back of my ears through my head _ either from left to right or right to left, depending on which way the joystick on a remote-control was moved.
I found the experience unnerving and exhausting: I sought to step straight ahead but kept careening from side to side. Those alternating currents literally threw me off.
The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation — essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance.
I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced — mistakenly — that this was the only way to maintain my balance.
The phenomenon is painless but dramatic. Your feet start to move before you know it. I could even remote-control myself by taking the switch into my own hands.
There just seems to be something wrong about allowing yourself to be the slightest bit controlled by external ELECTRIC SHOCKS TO THE HEAD.
Be a remote controled toy for your kids. Turn left, Daddy. <ZOT>
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Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2005 : 11:38:32 [Permalink]
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Oh ya, saw it on Brazilian news. Ye beat me to it, Papa.
And yeah... I had the same feeling, VD. What the hell where those people thinking when they invented it? |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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markie
Skeptic Friend
Canada
356 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2005 : 12:42:35 [Permalink]
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That is cool. I've experienced something which may be indirectly related. About 20 years ago at a fair in London (Canada) there was a large domed tent over a cement floor. An imax-type film was projected on the ceiling, and about 50 or so people stood there on the floor, looking up at the film of a roller coaster ride from a rider's perspective. I was falling around all over the place, literally 'feeling' the centrifugal force of the coaster pulling this way and that and my body trying to adjust automatically. All that from some excitement in the visual cortex. Amazing! Haven't seen such a 'ride' since, but would surely do it again.
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2005 : 13:48:09 [Permalink]
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Remote for silencing crying babies...
Every father's and babysitter's dream: Nothing annoying to distract you from your hobbies. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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GeeMack
SFN Regular
USA
1093 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2005 : 14:43:32 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer...
There just seems to be something wrong about allowing yourself to be the slightest bit controlled by external ELECTRIC SHOCKS TO THE HEAD.
And some people, of their own volition, take shocks to the head from watching FOX News [sic], then blindly turn to the right at the polling place and vote Republican. Oh, sorry, for a minute I thought this was the Politics category. 
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2005 : 20:01:11 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer
There just seems to be something wrong about allowing yourself to be the slightest bit controlled by external ELECTRIC SHOCKS TO THE HEAD.
Eh, can't be any worse for you than a few beers.
I'd actually really like to try it because I want to see how hard it would be to resist the impulse to move. I mean, even if your body was telling you that you had to move left to stay balanced, if you knew that information was wrong, could you control yourself and stay in one spot? Or would you just throw up and fall over? Inquiring minds want to know.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2005 : 21:42:02 [Permalink]
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quote:
I had the same feeling, VD.
tee hee 
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If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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