This might have gotten a little lost in the PS5 news today, but Valve's Gabe Newell has indicated that he has a strong interest in brain-computer interfaces.
Mr. Newell (and Robin Walker) sat down for a 30-minute interview with IGN's Ryan McCaffrey on a variety of subjects; check out the video for the whole shebang:
The interview touched on the general state of Valve, Gabe's favorite game (spoilers: it's still DotA 2), Half-Life: Alyx, and more. One of the more intriguing subjects, however, was that of the brain-computer interface as noted by IGN. Apparently, Mr. Newell has been keeping a close eye on the topic.
"The brain-computer interface stuff is... we're way closer to The Matrix than people realize. It's not going to be The Matrix. The Matrix is a movie and it misses all the interesting technical subtleties and just how weird the post-brain computer interface world is going to be - but it's going to have a huge impact on the kinds of experiences that we can create for people.”
Brain-Computer Interfaces Are an 'Extinction-Level Event' for Entertainment
With Valve currently making one of the best VR headsets on the market (if not the best), the idea of them creating an interface for your brain is certainly appealing. How it will affect the rest of the entertainment medium, however, might be bad news for people who don't keep up with the tech.
"I think [brain interfaces are] an extinction-level event for every entertainment form that's not thinking about this," Mr. Newell said. "If you're in the entertainment business and you're not thinking about this, you're going to be thinking about it a lot more in the future."
What do you think of brain-computer interfaces? Do you think we'll see something like that in the next ten years? Let us know in the comments below!
