Reading allows your brain to directly download information

"Although the headsets of science fiction are still far off, technology—like the printing press—has been amplifying human abilities and helping us learn, process, and communicate for centuries now," explains Dr. Wingeier. But why does this count as a brain-machine interface? When you learned to read, your brain had to change and restructure itself so your visual and language systems could transfer information from the page into your working memory. "Now, we're augmenting our brains further with smartphones and Google searches," he says. "And, just like the science-fiction headsets, it's up to us to use them wisely."