In humans it may be possible to augment normal consciousness using drugs, neurotechnology or genetic interventions, as evidenced by experiments in animals.³⁴ Some researchers have used wearable technologies or implants to give themselves magnetic senses, for instance,³⁵ or the ability to cross modalities and feel sound.³⁶

Future Horizons:

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5-yearhorizon

Humans begin to adopt augmentations

There is greater adoption of wearable or remotely controllable robotic technologies in factories and for special-purpose applications. A new online database of nootropic drugs seeks to track them and make clinicians aware of their effects and proliferation. Brain-computer interfaces move beyond siloed research labs toward new and more diverse use cases. Virtual reality and augmented reality offer visual overlays representing other people’s heart rate and blood pressure, letting willing participants “see” each others’ inner emotional state. Brain interfaces allow for technologically mediated direct communication between two brains without involving the peripheral nervous system bringing us a step closer to a “social network of brains.”

10-yearhorizon

Engineered body enhancements become available

Targeted gene therapy allows augmentation of sensory scope, such as “seeing” in the infrared part of the spectrum, and a few body-hacking enthusiasts choose to augment their natural senses with new engineered senses. VR and AI-driven simulation allows us to visit the future and the past by making immersive, realistic “dress rehearsals” for future events, and by putting us into our own memories.

25-yearhorizon

The era of consciousness engineering and meta-humans arrives

Increasing understanding of the neurobiology of consciousness coupled with major advances in neuro-AI establishes consciousness engineering as a major discipline. For a sector of society, permanent connections with machines create blurred boundaries between different selves and between natural and artificial realities. It becomes possible to better incorporate the perspectives of other people and other species within an individual’s experience.

Newly developed brain-to-brain interfaces — currently possible invasively in animals³⁷ and non-invasively in humans³⁸ — may allow for direct communication between two brains without involving the peripheral nervous system, instantiating intelligence and perhaps consciousness that has a distributed or collective aspect.³⁹ In addition, two-person fMRI scanning and hyperscanning⁴⁰ is opening up new possibilities to investigate shared experience leading to some form of shared consciousness.⁴¹

Experiments in robotics are indicating that robots might learn the ability to think in abstract terms, planning and estimating the outcomes of prospective actions without the need to physically execute them. This may have application in averting workplace accidents and recovering from damage.⁴² Via brain-computer interfaces, robot self-simulation may also open up pathways for humans to augment their experience. There is scope for human-machine hybrid “teams” to improve industrial decision-making and other tasks.⁴³

Beyond-human consciousness - Anticipation Scores

The Anticipation Potential of a research field is determined by the capacity for impactful action in the present, considering possible future transformative breakthroughs in a field over a 25-year outlook. A field with a high Anticipation Potential, therefore, combines the potential range of future transformative possibilities engendered by a research area with a wide field of opportunities for action in the present. We asked researchers in the field to anticipate:

The uncertainty related to future science breakthroughs in the field
The transformative effect anticipated breakthroughs may have on research and society
The scope for action in the present in relation to anticipated breakthroughs.

This chart represents a summary of their responses to each of these elements, which when combined, provide the Anticipation Potential for the topic. See methodology for more information.