Communications of the ACM
EU Invests
The European Union (EU) is spearheading the European Commission's Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) program by proposing an investment of roughly 500 million euros in exploratory research into high-risk future information and communication technologies. "The European Commission wants to double the budget for FET research by 2015 and I urge member states to match this effort with their own investments," said EU commissioner Neelie Kroes.
The most advanced FET research is being led by neuroscientists, biologists, computer scientists, and nanotechnology specialists. Examples of European FET research include the development of intelligent artificial hand prostheses for amputees, and a high speed digital camera that can snap images of impulses traveling between brain cells and broadcast them in high resolution video.
Another FET research project is CLONS, which is developing neural prosthetic devices with direct linkage to the inner ear as tools for correcting vestibular disorders.
Meanwhile, the Brain-i-Nets effort is striving to achieve an understanding of how the brain processes information by recording the neural network modifications that occur during the learning process.
From Balkans.com
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