Computer Control Implants for the Paralyzed

unassimilatible writes: "The Boston Globe is reporting that Cyberkinetics Inc. is about to ask federal regulators for permission to start testing a device that would enable paralyzed people to control computers directly with their brains or possibly help them move their limbs. Initially, the device, implanted into the brains of paralyzed people, will help them control a cursor on a screen or play video games. Researchers believe the technology could one day enable paralyzed people to type, control lights and heating controls, maneuver wheelchairs, or even manipulate robotic arms. I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004."

WIRED article

[KJE]

I remember WIRED having an article about this sort of thing. It's a couple of years old but here you go:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.08/assist.htm l [wired.com]

Re:Animal Testing

[dowobeha]

Yes, this has been tested. A week or so ago I heard a story on NPR where researchers connected a monkey's brain to a computer. The monkey had a joystick in its hands which controlled a robotic arm. Eventually, the monkey figured out that it could set down the joystick and continue to control the robotic arm using nothing but its brain.

Re:I, for one...

[UserGoogol]

Episode 1F13 of the Simpsons, "Deep Space Homer." Homer, alongside Race Banyon and Buzz Aldrin, goes into space in NASA's attempt at boosting their slipping ratings, and in Homer's attempt to boost his popularity above that of an inanimate carbon rod.

Allow me to set the scene. Homer, while floating around in the ship and eating Ruffles, crashes headfirst into an ant farm designed to study whether ants can be used to sort tiny screws in space. The ants fly everywhere.

Kent: We're just about to get our first pictures from inside the spacecraft with "average-naut" Homer Simpson, and we'd like to -- aah! [Camera shows a close-up of an ant floating in front of the three astronauts]

Ladies and gentlemen, er, we've just lost the picture, but, uh, what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has been taken over -- "conquered", if you will -- by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain, there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here.

And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves.