We can remember it for you wholesale

The ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Japan aren't particularly well known outside their field. However, research they carried out at the close of 2008 suggests that may change soon. In the closing stages of last year, the ATR team developed a prototype of a device that could record visual images of human thoughts.

In other words, a dream recorder.

In essence it's actually a relatively simple piece of technology, examining the electrical signals sent to the visual cortex and then converting them into graphics on a computer screen. In practice, if perfected, it has the potential to act as a dream and thought recorder, a device that could look directly into our subconscious and see what we really think. The implications for everything from advertising to psychological therapy and law enforcement are staggering and this device, potentially, opens the door to one of the big science fiction ideas of the last century being made manifest in this one.

SFX Magazine is the world's number one sci-fi, fantasy, and horror magazine published by Future PLC. Established in 1995, SFX Magazine prides itself on writing for its fans, welcoming geeks, collectors, and aficionados into its readership for over 25 years. Covering films, TV shows, books, comics, games, merch, and more, SFX Magazine is published every month. If you love it, chances are we do too and you'll find it in SFX.