If you witness someone swaying and stumbling down Marshall Street in the near future, do not automatically assume this person is intoxicated. Instead of suffering from one too many vodka tonics, this wandering individual may be experiencing galvanic vestibular stimulation, or GVS, via two nodes behind his or her ears.

GVS is when small electric currents are placed to the part of the ear that governs balance. Imagine a glass of water on one of those back-of-the-seat trays on an airplane. When the plane is in the air, the water remains flat, but when the plane turns, the surface of the water keeps itself level with the plane and the water appears slanted in the cup. When the balance department of a human ear is left alone, it keeps itself level. Once the electric signals of GVS are administered, the person begins turning and the ‘water,’ or balance mechanism, becomes slanted in the head.

Quite simply, the shocks lead the person to believe he or she is falling off balance, and the only way to prevent a complete wipeout is to swagger in a certain direction, as governed by the shocks.

This science, which has been known to mankind for about 100 years, has just recently become a part of the human body thanks to the Japanese company Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation. Due to the efforts of researcher Taro Maeda, it is possible to control humans as one would control a toy car — just use a remote control.

A rudimentary version of a headset and remote control was first revealed at a 2005 conference. Since then, various methods of implementing this technology have been explored.

Despite the fact that this technology is undeniably awesome, it’s also a little intimidating to think a human can be controlled like a model airplane. I, for one, certainly do not want my movements governed by someone with a joystick. But Pandora’s box may have been opened a little too far to prevent that.

One of the more sinister possibilities for GVS is its use as a defense weapon. Should GVS be administered with an electromagnetic field, as opposed to individual shocks placed strategically behind an individual’s ears, it could render masses of people (or soldiers) dizzy, disoriented and unable to fight.

On the brighter side, GVS can help make gaming and flight-training simulations better and can even help prevent the elderly from suffering painful falls.

Video gamers need to rejoice, as this headset could lend a whole new sense of immersion into games. Playing ‘Grant Theft Auto’ and just careened your Ferrari off the Brooklyn Bridge? Your sense of balance could enable you to feel every sway and dip of the car as it makes its imminent plummet.

Fighter pilots-in-training, prepare to enjoy a much more involved training program. Not only will you know where each gauge and handle is in the cockpit, but you will also become more familiar with how each turn and barrel of the plane actually feels, without actually moving. The physical simulation of balance change can replicate a pilot’s experiences when in the air.

Elderly people may someday be able to be as daring as to step off a high curb. Armed with a pair of nifty GVS earmuffs, a short electric current could aid their balance, avoiding a hip-breaking injury.

Sure, this marriage of science and technology could someday pose a malicious threat to humanity should its execution on a large scale be leaked to the wrong people. Although it could be a weapon used to impede or destroy life, it can also become a social good by aiding in entertainment possibilities and preventing injury.

And I should probably mention that a fully functional and marketable version of this GVS headset probably won’t hit the shelves for at least another decade, so that person stumbling down Marshall Street is most likely is just intoxicated.

Jessica Smith is a sophomore information management and technology and television, radio and film major and the technology columnist. Her column usually appears every Thursday, except when it’s April Fools’ Day. Haha, April Fools, except not really. If you have a friend in Japan who can help her get one of these before they become available in the United States, she can be reached at jlsmit22@syr.edu.
 

Published on March 30, 2010 at 12:00 pm