Technology
Spooky brain implant lets paralysed man write by just thinking about handwriting
MIND-READING brain tech has allowed a paralysed man to write just by thinking about sentences.
The astonishing device consists of two implants that can pick up on electrical activities in the brain.
A 65-year-old paralysed man demonstrated the tech by thinking about writing with an imaginary pen[/caption]
The implants have been specifically trained to look for the brain signals people usually produce when they think about writing with an imaginary pen.
A computer algorithm is then used to interpret the signals.
It can trace the path of the user’s imaginary pen and turn their thoughts into words on a screen.
A video demonstrates how a 65-year-old man who is paralysed from the neck down was able to use the tech to write.
The tech involves implanting two small sheets of electrodes into the brain of the user[/caption]
He thought about writing with an imaginary pen and this was picked up by the two grids of minuscule electrodes implanted in his brain.
The sentence he imagines writing then appears on a screen in front of him.
He was said to have a writing speed of 90 characters or 15 words per minute.
That’s about the average speed of someone his age typing on a smartphone.
The footage was released as part of a study by researchers at Stanford University in the US.
Their work has been published in the journal Nature.
Krishna Shenoy, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Stanford University, said: “The big surprise is that even years and years after spinal cord injury, where you haven’t been able to use your hands or fingers, we can still listen in on that electrical activity.
“It’s still very active.”
The researchers want more volunteers to continue their research as they’re certain it will also work for other paralysed people.
They want to try out the tech on someone who has lost the ability to move and speak.
Brain computer interface tech still has a long way to go but companies like Elon Musk’s Neuralink are also working on life-changing implants.
What is Neuralink?
Here’s what you need to know…
- Neuralink is a project that aims to embed computer chips in people’s brains
- The idea is to give humans hyper-intelligence by merging them with artificial intelligence
- Tiny threads thinner than a human hair would pump information into your noggin
- It would work a bit like an internet cable, transmitting data in and out at high speeds
- As well as making us smarter, the project promises to merge us with computers and phones
- That means you could control your gizmos with your brain
- Neuralink is bankrolled by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk
- He’s previously said the tech could save us from a machine uprising in future
- In May 2020, Musk claimed the brain implants could be ready ‘within a year’
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What do you think of the brain reading tech? Let us know in the comments…
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