Second Life creator wants to use Oculus Rift to look inside your brain

What if you could see inside someone’s mind? It’s not possible to know exactly what another person is thinking, but neuroscientists from UCSD and UCSF are on their way. They created a “glass brain”: software that shows a person’s brain reacting to stimuli in real time. The implications for virtual reality and digital communication are tremendous, according to Philip Rosedale, the founder of Second Life, who has been collaborating with the neuroscientists.

The creator of Second Life is helping scientists explore your brain. Philip Rosedale has collabored with neuroscientists in California on a system that, as Fast.Company reports, offers a virtual reality tour of “a person’s brain reacting to stimuli in real time.” It does this with the help of many tools, including MRI scans and EEG electrodes that record a subject’s brain activity. But the magic lies with Oculus Rift, which allows someone else to get an up close (and live) peek at your brain. Rosedale demonstrated the “glass brain” system at SXSW earlier this month with the help of his wife. Flashes of light helped pinpoint her brain activity (based on the EEG data) and Rosedale was able to journey through her brain while wearing a Rift VR headset.