Remember the Holodeck...

The prospect of the Holodeck in Star Trek always excited me. I don't really even consider myself all that avid of a fan (especially not after meeting some genuine Star Trek fans (I'm not going to attempt to identify (or differentiate between) them as trekkie/trekker)).

But I remember thinking, How cool would it be to just go into a room... and do whatever you want?

In one of those great holodeck adventure episodes I remember one of the characters going into some detail about how it works. About how it was actually items created (with their handy energy-to-matter technology) by the computer and then it used tractor-beams to move everything around like puppets.

Good idea, very neat.

But what about smells and tastes? How does the computer know?

This was also brought up in the movie Matrix (Great movie, I hope they don't make a sequel (oh yeah... (well, crap!)). How did they know what anything tasted like?

Well, Sony just patented the answer.

We are the culprits. We tell the computers with what things taste and smell like. And all for the sake of entertainment.

According to the press release, a computer will be able to use ultrasound to stimulate our brains to simulate sensory experiences.

Experts are concerned about the long term affects on people...

... as in, maybe they'll be mostly wiped out when the machines decide to take over the world by inciting nuclear holocaust?