Neuralink has shared a video showing the first patient to test its brain computer interface. Noland Arbaugh is 29 years old, he is quadriplegic, that is to say paralyzed in all four limbs, since a serious accident in 2016.
In January, Elon Musk’s company announced that it had transplanted its first implant into a human brain. Founded in 2016, its objective is to develop a man-machine interface allowing you to control a computer, a prosthesis or a smartphone by thought. A few weeks later, the CEO assured that the patient was doing well and that he was able to manipulate the cursor of a computer mouse.
Neuralink proves its claim in a 9-minute video published on X.com, formerly Twitter. We see Noland Arbaugh, accompanied by a company engineer, playing a video game of chess with his mind.
Learn to move the cursor
The patient describes the surgery as “ easy “. As a reminder, it consists of making an incision in the scalp to place the implant, composed of a network of electrodes, in the skull. This then transmits neural signals to the device that is to be controlled.
Arbaugh explains that he had to learn to differentiate between imagined movement of attempted movement » before you can manipulate the cursor. “ I was trying to move, for example, my right hand to the left, to the right, forward, backward. And from there, I think it became intuitive for me to start imagining the cursor moving », he continues.
He says he was able to play another game for an entire night, although the implant’s battery ran out after eight hours. How it is recharged has not been specified by the company.
Technology needs to be perfected
With his technology, Elon Musk wants to be able to help treat several pathologies, whether paralysis, blindness, or even certain mental illnesses such as depression. Ultimately, it aims to increase human capabilities via machines, in order to prevent humanity from being surpassed by artificial intelligence (AI).
“ It’s not perfect, we encountered some issues », admits the patient, before adding that the implant has already changed his life. Neuralink is not the only company looking into such a device. Paradromics, Precision Neuroscience and Synchron are also on the scene. On the other hand, Elon Musk’s firm is the only one to test its technology on a human with an implant directly implanted in the brain, without a wired link to the machine. That of Synchron is in fact positioned just outside the organ.
Sources: Engadget, The Wall Street Jlog
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