Did you ever wish it were possible to record your dreams or thoughts and have them shown on video? UC Berkeley researchers have come one giant step closer to making that happen.

Professor Jack Gallant, a UC Berkeley neuroscientist, and his team scanned the brain flow of subjects, while they were watching a video clip, with an fMRI system. The data collected was matched to existing Youtube videos, creating a blurry video that eerily represents the original. The secret ingredient behind the technology is software that describes how moving images relate to brain activity.

The test subjects viewed 2 sets of video clips. The first set of video was used to map out brain activity and have a computer program learn how a subject’s brain activity corresponds to visual stimuli. Once enough data had been gathered, a second set of video was the basis for the visual reconstruction, which utilized a movie reconstruction algorithm and 18 million seconds of Youtube video.

Although the results of their research are cool and make for a fascinating Youtube video, their work has implications for medicine as well. A more refined version of this technology can be used on patients in a coma, who have been in a stroke, or who cannot communicate for whatever reason. The ability to reconstruct dreams and memories can open new doors to helping people in a way never before thought possible. The technology to record dreams and minds is still decades away. Regardless, the fact that something that resembles a mind reader exists today is pretty incredible.