This is pretty awesome. Researchers at UC Berkeley have been able to recreate what people are seeing as they watch YouTube videos using brain activity. The quality of the videos they recreate isn't good at all. In fact, in the video on the ABC News story the clip of the jet seems to be missing the jet. The participants in the project were members of the research team headed by Jack Gallant, a professor of psychology.
The study was published recently in Current Biology. The study had the participants in an MRI machine for hours at a time watching YouTube videos. The data gathered by the MRI machine was used to create a computer model that matched the features of the video like colors, shapes, and movements with the brain activity.
The video was recreated by looking at slight changes in blood flow to visual areas of the brain were used to predict what was on the screen at the time. The team thinks that one day the tech could be used to broadcast imagery that plays in the mind independent from vision. What they mean is that eventually you may actually be able to watch your day dreams.
[via ABC News]