The plan is such that it looks like it came from a science fiction novel, as it potentially could provide eternal life. A San Francisco inventor, neuroscientist and neuroengineer Randal Koene has revealed that he plans to upload his brain to a computer.

By mapping the brain, reducing its activity to computations, and reproducing those computations in code, Koene argued, humans could live indefinitely, emulated by silicon.

The main thing that should make this possible is a "SIM" (Substrate-Independent Mind) which, according to Koene is not pure artificial intelligence, but the human brain uploaded to a computer.

"Neurologists are 99.9% convinced that the brain is a mechanism," says Koene. "It is something that computes, something that carries out functions. If you can figure out how it works, you can build a replacement for it. The idea that you can take a piece of the brain and create its replica is mainstream and is very well understood. So why not do it with the whole brain?"

He believes that by uploading his brain to a computer he will be able to enter into other worlds, including those virtual.

"It would be interesting to inhabit a more virtual world. Or perhaps bodies that aren't built to survive in this environment, but somewhere else, like space," Koene said excitedly

Koene founded the organization "Carboncopies" which deals with the technical and ethical issues of the project.