by John Akers
“So how did Anil change the instructions that helped Eric do better?”
“Initially, he told Eric to select the light gray shape in the center and then move it. But after Eric struggled for a while, Anil realized he might have inadvertently biased him by drawing his attention to the subtasks involved. Although the software needs to break things down into its component movements, when a person throws or kicks a ball they don’t consciously think about each sub-movement separately. You just throw or kick.”
“Tell that to my golf swing,” said Larry glumly.
Jean chuckled. “After the break, Anil simply told Eric to ‘move the shape,’ rather than ‘select and then move the shape.’ This minor switch in emphasis seems to have helped. Take a look.”
Jean drew his right forefinger across his left palm, and the video play head scrubbed forward. When it reached the twenty-fourth minute, Jean tapped his finger on his palm twice, and the video began to play.
The red crosshairs moved over a diamond shape in the center. Suddenly, there was a burst of activity in two adjacent neural graphs that said “Occipital Gyrus” below them. The shape in the middle turned dark and immediately darted toward the corresponding shape on the perimeter before stopping about 3/4 of the way there and turning back to light gray.
Pax felt slightly giddy. “What did he say afterward?”
“Eric said it felt like trying to spread your toes apart. Like something you felt you should be able to do, but the muscles had atrophied through lack of use."
They all watched a couple more trials in silence. Then, as an octagon shape appeared, Larry piped up. “This was where the glitch happened, right?”
“Yes,” said Jean.
“Glitch? What glitch?” said Pax, frowning.
“See for yourself,” said Denise. On the video, the next target shape appeared: an octagon. The corresponding shape was outside the lower left corner of the larger rectangle. As the red crosshairs darted toward the octagon, it disappeared, then immediately reappeared almost exactly on top of its target. A split-second later the crosshairs darted over to where the shape now was.
“Sorry,” Qathi mumbled, clearly embarrassed. “I don’t know what happened. I’ll have the team check the drag and drop subroutine.” Her avatar disappeared from the display. Pax said, “Qathi, wait!” He held his palms up and away from him and moved them quickly apart to clear his display and look at Qathi. She looked embarrassed and averted her eyes.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “That was the glitch?”
“Well, a target can’t just magically move itself, can it?” said Larry sarcastically.
Pax turned to Jean. “Was that the only time that happened?”
“No,” said Jean. “It happened two other times.”
Pax immediately reached up with one hand and touched the temples of his UV where they met at the back of his head, releasing the magnetic lock. He pulled Gabe off and looked at them, his eyes wide.
“It happened three times?” he said incredulously.
The others all removed their UVs as well and looked back and forth between Pax and one another nervously. Qathi’s face was red, and her lips were twisted into a small knot. Clearly, she expected Pax to chew her out right then and there, in front of the others, for letting her team make such an elementary programming error.
“Yes, I believe so,” said Jean. He glanced sympathetically at Qathi. “It’s just the first participant, Oreste. There are bound to be minor errors here and there as we go along. I’m sure Qathi’s team will be able to…”
“Qathi,” Pax said, interrupting Jean and turning to face her. She flinched and looked down at the ground. “You reviewed the code personally, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she said, in a strained voice just barely above a whisper.
“Is there any way something like that could happen? That the selected shape could simply appear on top of its match?”
When she didn’t reply and continued staring at the ground, Pax said, “Qathi, I’m not upset with you or your team. I just want to know if you think there’s any way that could happen, given how you designed the code.”
“No!” she exploded. “No, there’s absolutely no way! I’ve checked the code a hundred times, I could write three-quarters of it right now, from memory. That shape moves before the crosshairs even reaches it. It’s—impossible!”
Pax smiled and patted her on the shoulder, then looked at the others. “Coming from the person who knows more about UV software than anyone in the world, that leaves only one conclusion.”
“What?” said Denise.
“It’s not a glitch.”
They all looked at him in silence for a moment before Denise responded. “Um—what?”
Pax threw Gabe back on and said, "Gabe, play the video in reverse at half-speed." The video began to rewind slowly. As soon as the octagon returned to its starting point in the center of the rectangle, he said, “Stop. Play forward at one-sixteenth speed."
The video slowly moved forward. As soon as the object disappeared, Pax yelled, "Stop!" He looked at the timestamp, then said, "Jean, what area of the brain controls spatial perception?"
“Um, there are several," replied Jean, looking confused. “The hippocampus provides a spatial map of our real-world environment and processes information about spatial locations. The entorhinal cortex is used in processing geometric properties of the environment. The parietal cortex retains information about the environment around us from our egocentric frame of reference. And the medial prefrontal cortex also processes spatial information from an egocentric perspective, but with an element of motivational significance attached, such as trying to complete a task."
"Do we track all of those?"
"Except for the hippocampus. It's located so deep inside the base of the brain the neural net can’t capture it."
“Okay. Gabe, zoom in on the activity graphs for the three regions Jean just mentioned."
Four of the graphs expanded to take up all the area allocated to the graphs.
"I said three, Gabe…” Pax began before Jean interrupted.
"Gabe is correctly showing two feeds of the prefrontal cortex," said Jean. “There is considerable hemispheric specialization in this area. The left prefrontal cortex processes categorical spatial memory, while the right manages things such as item memory."
"Oh. Good job, Gabe."
“Don’t mention it,” said Gabe.
“Play at one-sixty-fourth speed,” said Pax.
The video crept forward. Just before the shape disappeared, there was a surge of activity across the entire right prefrontal cortex. The neurons in various locations began firing very rapidly, and the overall level of activity across all the neurons in the region rose more than five times their previous level.
"Stop," Pax said. He turned his left palm up in an “edit” gesture, and while looking at the right prefrontal cortex graph, he drew two lines with his right forefinger across his palm. On their displays, two red lines appeared on the graph, one at the previous neural activity level, the second at the peaks. The peak line was more than five times the height of the first line.
Pax said, “It’s not a glitch.”
Chapter 6
Wednesday, March 14, 6:00 PM PT
Los Altos Police Department Incident Report
Case No.: 2035-02716229
Location: 2359 CUESTA ABAJO CT, LOS ALTOS, CA 94024
Incident Type: HOUSEHOLD ACCIDENT
Date and Time Reported: 3/14/20xx 1:18 AM
Dispatch Date and Time: 3/14/20xx 1:23 AM
Bias/Motivation: NONE
Victim/Missing 01 (V01) Name: (Last, First): CUNNINGHAM, JEREMY R.
Last Known Address: 2359 CUESTA ABAJO CT, LOS ALTOS, CA 94024
D.O.B.: 08/20/19xx
Age: 54
Race: CAUCASIAN
Sex: MALE
Eyes: BROWN
Hair: BROWN
Height: 5’ 11”
Weight: 210 LBS.
; Univiz ID: 1875031692
Suspect 1 (S01) Name (Last, First): N/A OR UNKNOWN
Suspect Status: N/A OR UNKNOWN
Related Report(s): 2035-02716217
Incident Description:
NARRATIVE GIVEN TO REPORTING OFFICER BY MR. JERRY CUNNINGHAM (V01) WHILE HE WAS BEING ATTENDED TO BY EMT RESPONDING TO 911 CALL. MR. CUNNINGHAM REPORTED GOING TO BED AT 11:48 PM, THEN WAKING UP AT 1:17 AM AND GOING DOWNSTAIRS TO GET SOMETHING TO EAT. WHEN HE REACHED THE BOTTOM FLOOR, THE PANEL LIGHTING IN THE LIVING ROOM AND CEILING DID NOT TURN ON IN RESPONSE TO MOTION. HE DID NOT ISSUE A VERBAL COMMAND TO TURN LIGHTS ON SO AS NOT TO WAKE OTHER MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLD, AND INSTEAD ATTEMPTED TO FIND THE REFRIGERATOR IN THE DARK. MR. CUNNINGHAM THEN SLIPPED IN A LARGE PUDDLE OF LIQUID AND FELL, HITTING HIS HEAD ON THE TILE FLOOR. HE LOST CONSCIOUSNESS FOR APPROXIMATELY 15 MINUTES.
WHEN HE WOKE UP, HE ATTEMPTED TO GET UP BUT DISCOVERED HE HAD HURT ONE OF HIS KNEES AND COULDN’T STAND ON HIS OWN. HE CALLED TO HIS WIFE FOR HELP, WHO CAME DOWNSTAIRS, AT WHICH TIME THE LIGHTS TURNED ON. MRS. CUNNINGHAM HELPED HIM UP AND HELPED HIM CHANGE OUT OF HIS ROBE AND PAJAMAS WHICH WERE SOAKING WET. THEN SHE CALLED 911. IT TURNED OUT THE LIQUID HE HAD SLIPPED IN WAS WATER, WHICH COVERED MOST OF THE KITCHEN FLOOR.
MR. CUNNINGHAM STATED HE BELIEVES THE WATER CAME FROM THE WATER DISPENSER ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE REFRIGERATOR, AND THAT BOTH IT AND THE LIGHTS NOT TURNING ON WERE CONTINUATIONS OF AN ATTEMPT TO TERRORIZE AND HARM HIM BY AN UNKNOWN AGENCY. AT THIS POINT IN THE INTERVIEW HE BEGAN CRYING AND SAID “SOMEONE IS TRYING TO GET ME. I DON’T KNOW HOW, I DON’T KNOW WHY, BUT I KNOW THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING.”
REPORTING OFFICER ISSUED VERBAL COMMANDS TO LIGHTING IN KITCHEN AND MANUALLY TESTED LIGHT SWITCH ON WALL AND FOUND THEM TO BE FUNCTIONING NORMALLY. OFFICER ALSO TESTED REFRIGERATOR DISPENSER AND FOUND IT FUNCTIONED NORMALLY AS WELL.
MRS. CUNNINGHAM REPORTED HER HUSBAND HAS SEEMED STRESSED FOR SEVERAL WEEKS AND SHE HAD SUGGESTED TO HIM ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS TO SEE A PSYCHOLOGIST BUT TO DATE HE HAD NOT SOUGHT TREATMENT.
MR. CUNNINGHAM’S DOCTOR REPORTED HE SUFFERED A MILD CONCUSSION AND A SPRAINED LEFT KNEE, PRESCRIBED OTC ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MEDICATION.
REPORTING OFFICER RECOMMENDS NO FURTHER ACTION BE TAKEN AT THIS TIME.
Reporting Officer Name (Last, First): WATKINS, DONNA
Reporting Officer Badge No: 7263
Date Assigned: 3/14/20xx
Reviewing Supervisor Name (Last, First): FITZGERALD, MARY
Case Status: CLOSED
Chapter 7
After Cevis rescued Pax from the TA’s question, Pax leaned over toward him. Out of the side of his mouth, he whispered, “Way to be late on the help there, smart guy.”
Cevis whispered back, “You did such a good job before I assumed you didn’t need any help.”
Pax turned to look at Cevis and found him staring directly at him. He had blue eyes so pale they almost seemed translucent, and a penetrating gaze. The intensity of his look unnerved Pax, but he forced a smile and said, “Hope you aren’t annoyed. I was just having a little fun.”
“At my expense, I’m aware. That’s okay, I’m sure it was a nice break for you and all the other plebeians in this class.”
Pax gave him a look of mock indignation. “Well, pardon my sloping brow! As it so happens, your patrician-ness, I got an ‘A’ on the last test. And I’m a cogsci major, too. I just took this class to show all you snotty pre-meds aren’t as hot shit as you think.”
Cevis smiled at the rejoinder. He leaned slightly away from Pax and looked him up and down as if he were sizing him up. “That is interesting. Maybe you do qualify to sit near me.”
“And study with you for the next test,” Pax added. He was pleased to see Cevis look surprised for the first time.
“What? No, I don’t study with anyone.”
“Look, you just said I qualify.”
Cevis’s eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t mean…”
“Look, I know you’re not used to having to interact with humans on whatever planet you come from, but that’s where I can help. You help me to keep getting A’s in this class, and I’ll teach you how to act like a real human boy.”
Cevis regarded Pax with a curious expression before responding. “You are amusingly annoying. But it would be an interesting challenge. Okay, let’s see if we can get you an A.”
“And teach you not act like you come from the Alpha Centauri system,” Pax said. “Don’t forget, you’re getting something out of this, too. In fact, I’m pretty sure I have the harder job.”
With no discernible expression, Cevis replied, “Mmmhmm. Or maybe I’ll convince you being a Centaurian is better.”
“What do you mean, it's not a glitch?” asked Jean. Pax noticed the other conversations in the room had stopped, and everyone was attending to theirs.
“I’m saying he moved it without using his eyes. With just his mind.”
As if on cue, the others all leaned away from him as if he’d suddenly sprouted a second head.
Pax said, “Gabe, ask Anil to come in here.”
A few seconds later, Anil Chupra, the lead user researcher sitting in the testing room, looked at the one-way mirror, then left the room and entered the observation room. He located Pax and the others and walked over to them.
“Hi,” he said, to no one in particular. Looking at Pax, he asked nervously, “What can I help you with, Mr. Pax?”
“Thanks for coming over Anil, I know you’re busy. I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about the last participant."
“Certainly.”
"Did you do a debrief with them?”
“Of course. We always do."
“Good. Did you discuss the trials where the shape seemed to move before the cursor?”
“I did. I apologized to him about the software being buggy on some of the trials. He wasn’t sure what I meant, so I specified the trials in which the shape moved before his eyes did.”
“And what did he say?”
He said, “It didn’t feel like a bug.”
Pax felt his heart leap into his throat. He looked at the others and saw they looked surprised. Pax had witnessed enough usability tests to know that when a test was finished and the researcher was debriefing the participant, the people in the observation room often cut off the sound from the test room so they could talk about what they’d just observed. Pax had suspected they might have done this and therefore possibly missed important commentary from the participant.
“Did you ask him to elaborate?” Pax asked.
“Yes. He said in those trials as soon as he saw the shape appear in the center he remembered seeing its matching shape at the corner of the rectangle. The next thing he knew it was already there. He said it freaked him out a bit, like it had read his mind or something.”
“And what did you tell him?” Pax asked.
“I told him it was probably a programming glitch and…”
“It’s not a glitch!” Pax hollered. He threw his head back and yelled as loudly as he could. “It’s not a glitch! Yeeeaaaahhhh!”
He leaped away from them and ran around the perimeter of the room, still hollering, his arms held over his head. He high-fived everyone he passed, and when he came back, he jumped onto Jean, wrapping him in a bear hug that almost knocked him over. Several people laughed nervously, unsure of what to think.
Pax dropped off Jean and asked him, “How fast did it move?”
With a shocked look still on his face, Jean said, “Well, we all thought it was a mistake, so I didn’t check. Here, give me a second…”
Jean made some gestures, then he frowned and said, "Hmm."
"What? What?" cried Pax.
“According to the timer, it was less than 10 milliseconds from the moment the object disappeared to the time it reappeared on the target. The crosshairs then moved on top of the target 30 milliseconds afterward.”
“Ten milliseconds?” said Pax, suddenly subdued. “Is that even physically possible?”
“
It would be approaching the fastest neural firing rate ever observed,” said Jean. “Speeds like that have been observed as part of a continuous stream of neural activity, but this would be the equivalent of a sprinter coming off the blocks immediately at full speed, without needing to accelerate first. But yes, to answer your question, neural firing rates that fast are physically possible.”
Pax felt like his mind was on fire. “Unbelievable!” he said. “Instant manipulation of a Univiz by thought alone! And all we were trying to do was get him not to worry about how to select an object. Apparently, he decided not to worry about how to move it either!” He gave a somewhat maniacal laugh before he noticed that Denise was frowning. “What is it?” he asked her.
“Before we start congratulating ourselves, shouldn’t we unpack this a bit?” she said. “So far it's happened three times with one person. We need to see if it happens with anyone else. And even if it’s real, are we so sure it’s a good thing? What if it's a phenomenon we can’t harness? Referencing a visual target from short-term memory may conflict with what the eyes are trying to do. It could turn out to be a curse rather than a blessing.”
“Excellent points, Denise," said Pax. He turned and looked at the others. "So what do you the rest of you think we should call it? PureThought? Virtual Telekinesis? Help me out here!"
Denise rolled her eyes and looked away.
"How about 'MindWand?'" said Qathi, with a relieved smile.
“Qathi, yes!” yelled Pax. “You're in charge of marketing from now on. No wait, you're too good at software. Jean, how about you?"
"How about the 'HandsFree?'" said Jean with a smile.
“Super, you stay in charge of neurology. Larry, what’ve you got?”
"I think 'There’s-No-Way-In-Hell-We’ll-Have-a-Beta-Version-By-September' has a nice ring to it."
“Great. You can go sit with Denise on Team 'Let's Poop on This Magic Moment' over there.” Pax ran his hands through his hair and left them there, looking as if he were trying to keep his head from exploding. Then he noticed Denise had a hurt expression on her face.