Mark Zuckerberg is excited about telepathy

Mark Zuckerberg has a vision for the future. A vision that could see the way we communicate and interact completely change.

In a wide-ranging Facebook Live chat, the company’s founder and CEO discusses the evolution of the internet, which now allows us a more enriched and powerful interactive experience. Right now we have video – but, as Zuckerberg explains, there’s much more to come. We’ve moved from text, to photos, to video; next in line is virtual reality.

“Technology can always get better. We can always do a better job of giving everyone a voice, letting them share exactly what they’re thinking,” he argues.

Virtual-reality amphitheatres

Virtual reality is about presence, Zuckerberg says. It's about “feeling like you’re really there with someone” – and it can only get better.

The possibilities are endless, if you consider where we are now. Using the example of his live Q&A, he explains the progress we’re making. Historically, you might have been able to reach a room of hundreds. Now, the audience is exponentially bigger – with more than 100,000 people watching the Q&A live, he says.

But beyond video, virtual reality can take the immersive experience even further: “In a few years, maybe we’ll all be able to physically be in the same space. Maybe we’ll have VR amphitheatres or a VR Q&A.”

The potential of telepathy

Video is an interesting start, argues Zuckerberg, but you have to keep up with new ideas. However, it doesn't end with virtual or augmented reality. "There’s always something that goes beyond that,” he says.

While some of these ideas might seem more like the stuff of sci-fi, Zuckerberg says there is scientific research going on in these fields right now.

Telepathy is one such area. “You’re going to be able to capture a thought in its ideal and perfect form in your head,” he says. “You’ll be able to share that with the world, in a format where they can get it.”

However, he agrees that such a breakthrough is probably decades away: “There’s some pretty crazy brain research going on, that suggests we might be able to do this at some point.”

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