The Avatar program promises human immortality by 2045It sounds like a script from a science fiction movie, but the Russian scientist takes the idea of immortality very seriously with the use of neuroscience and robotics.
It has already assembled a team of Russian scientists with the sole purpose of creating a fully functional holographic human "Avatar", with an artificial brain in which a human consciousness can be placed, thus creating the first "human" robot!
In fact, on the program's website, 2045.com, Itsikov lists an indicative timeline showing his plans for the future, which, strange as it may sound, are not limited to robots.
The first part, which Itsikov hopes to complete by 2020, is the creation of an "avatar" robot, which humans will be able to control with their brains.
Such a system, of course, would resonate not only with those who want to pursue immortality, but for a variety of other applications, in industry, health, rescue, and even the military.
The second part is the creation of an autonomous support system for the human brain, which will allow the transplantation of a brain into an "avatar" by 2025. Of course, there is no such project beyond a research of the 70's which despite being encouraging.
Research by Dr. Robert J. White, who attempted to transplant a brain into monkeys, concluded that building an artificial environment where the brain can not only survive but continue to function fully is quite a difficult task. Of course, the 70's are different, the 2025 is different.
By 2035 now, Itskov hopes to find a way to "copy" human consciousness into an artificial brain, creating a purely robotic organism… consciously!
This would practically allow people to achieve immortality, while by digitizing our consciousness we could even parameterize our brain, "teasing" our memories, even our potential.
Of course, the necessary research has not yet been done to transfer consciousness to… chip, but there is great interest from several neuroscientists in understanding the internal functions of our brain. Recent achievements, such as a robotic arm that can analyze the electrical patterns of our neurons, suggest that we may be closer to this task than we know.
Up to this point, things may sound forgivable, even to some degree. The fourth stage of Project Avatar, however, surpasses any imagination, scientific or not! By 2045, less than 33 years from now, Itskov would like to have constructed "consciousnesses without material existence," intangible bodies, like holograms that can pass through walls or move at the speed of light.
If this already sounds like an exaggeration, the second plan is to create a body of nano-robots that will allow humans to take on different shapes at will.
As Itskov writes, "humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually a new species will be created."
The scientist intends to open his company's offices in San Francisco by the end of the summer while he is already working on creating a social network to inform and raise public awareness.
To fund the entire project, Itskov sent personal letters to all the billionaires on the Forbes list in an effort to attract them as investors, and even sought the support of governments.
However, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science announced that it would support Itskov and has already planned talks on the establishment of a specialized research and development center. The strange thing is that the Dalai Lama also supports his initiative!
This may all sound overly optimistic, even ridiculous in some cases, but let's not forget that in our daily lives we use technologies and achievements that in turn, 50 or 100 years ago seemed impossible or just as ridiculous. Whether Itskov's vision will come true or remain on paper we will know in a few years.