[Tech] Mind Over Matter…
I hope you are paying attention here, cyberpunkers.
- OBJECTS MOVED BY THOUGHTA 25-year-old man who is paralysed below the neck is controlling everyday objects – by thought.
In early trials, Matthew Nagle has learned to think his TV on and off, change channels and play a computer game.
Mr Nagle has had three electrodes implanted in his skull which tap into his brain waves.
The electrodes were placed above the sensory motor cortex where neural signals for controlling arms and legs are produced.
Mr Nagle, who is unable to breathe without a respirator after a vicious knife attack in 2001, has learned to imagine he is moving something.A computer deciphers the signals and software links the thoughts to devices in Mr Nagle’s room.
Using a transmitter on his head, he can move a cursor around a computer screen to play Pong and control simple movements in a robotic arm.
The work is being pioneered at New England Sinai Hospital in Massachusetts, USA, using a patented system known as BrainGate.
The scientists are led by Professor John Donoghue who hopes BrainGate will ultimately allow paraplegics such as Mr Nagle to regain the use of their limbs.
“If we can find a way to hook this up to his own muscles, he could open and close his own arms,” he told The Guardian newspaper.
“We’re very encouraged by Matthew but we’re cautious. It’s just one person. There’s further to go but we’re absolutely on our way.”
A wider programme involving up to 16 people over the next 18 months will explore extensions of the technology.
(Source : Sky News, 31 March 2005)So, control of computers, games and manipulation of robotic limbs from mere thought. I’m torn between Doc Ock and any number of anime where pilots control ships by brain waves.