Paralyzed Individuals Operate Tablet With Brain Implant (ieee.org) 61
Last year, a study from the BrainGate consortium reported that a brain-computer interface (BCI) enabled a paralyzed man to type up to eight words per minute via thoughts alone. Now, according to new results from a BrainGate2 clinical trial, the same BCI was used to help three participants operate an off-the-shelf tablet. IEEE Spectrum reports: All three participants suffer from weakness or loss of movement in their arms due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease) or spinal cord injury. Each received the brain implant, an array of microelectrodes, as part of the BrainGate2 clinical trial. For this particular study, decoded neural signals from the implant were routed through an industry-standard Human Interface Device protocol, providing a virtual mouse. That "mouse" was paired to a Google Nexus 9 tablet via Bluetooth.
Each participant was asked to try out seven common apps on the tablet: email, chat, web browser, video sharing, music streaming, a weather program and a news aggregator. The researchers also asked the users if they wanted any additional apps, and subsequently added the keyboard app, grocery shopping on Amazon, and a calculator. The participants made up to 22 point-and-click selections per minute and typed up to 30 characters per minute in email and text programs. What's more, all three participants really enjoyed using the tablet.
Each participant was asked to try out seven common apps on the tablet: email, chat, web browser, video sharing, music streaming, a weather program and a news aggregator. The researchers also asked the users if they wanted any additional apps, and subsequently added the keyboard app, grocery shopping on Amazon, and a calculator. The participants made up to 22 point-and-click selections per minute and typed up to 30 characters per minute in email and text programs. What's more, all three participants really enjoyed using the tablet.
Good start (Score:5, Insightful)
That sounds very interesting. If the accuracy and speed of "mental control over object in two dimensional space" gets high enough and doesn't interfere with normal motor control in healthy people, I can see this becoming standard for pretty much anyone that needs to use complex machinery of any kind.
Re:Good start (Score:5, Interesting)
Some of the original work from BrainGate had a problem; the connection between the neurons and the embedded chip would decay over time. This was due to scar tissue that would form around the microscopic "readers" that contacted the neurons.
I wonder if this generation of tech has solved that problem.
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I'm not up to date on the bleeding edge of medical science, but from what limited information I have, we have ways of reducing/slowing down formation of scar tissue and "hiding" it in certain kinds of wounds and tissues, but nothing that would prevent scar tissue from forming.
If anyone has a better idea, please tell us about it.
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Use fiber-optics so that never touch the cells you're monitoring. Perhaps genetically engineer the brain cells you want to monitor to fluoresce when firing. If you want two-way communication, then you engineer them to make the cell walls produce chloroplasts in two different colors, so that you can shine one color light on them to make them fire, and another to suppress firing.
The fun part? The chloroplast thing has actually already been done - watched an interesting TED talk years ago. They used the abili
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Considering the complexity of the system we call "human brain", I would suggest that attempting to genetically engineer its cells is very, VERY far away. We don't really understand how it actually works yet.
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As I said - it's already been done. Years ago.
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If that was done years ago, we'd be hearing about it all the time, as this would be a massive breakthrough both in understanding of how brain works and in genetic engineering.
Seeing how opposite is true, I'm calling BS.
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Well, based on your sample of one, I guess your brain is certainly damaged.
keyboard app? (Score:1)
Is our world so broken that all we can do is think in terms of mouse movements and keyboard apps?
If you can control a mouse, you can train your brain to produce binary coded character streams. Yes, it will take some training. Not unlike learning how to touch type. But imagine how powerful a brain interface could be if you could think text instead of the painfully slow process of moving a mouse from button to button.
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It took a ridiculously long time for this device to appear considering all the underlying tech has been dirt cheap for about 5-7 years now, but I guess that's the blink of an eye in a highly regulated bureaucratic behemoth. Speaking of which, what probably makes this possible is the correlation between "mouse go here" and looking at it (focusing/moving your eyes). Eye movements produce very 'loud' easily readable brain waves. ALS is a neurodegenerative disease so there is probably a difference between ALS b
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If you can control a mouse, you can train your brain to produce binary coded character streams
This is true. The human mind is capable of amazing feats, especially when required to overcome some handicap or hardship.
For example, Helen Keller was able to become highly educated and earn a degree from a prestigious university, despite being from Alabama.
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If you can control a mouse, you already have the interface, all you need is the app. One mouse movement in any of 8 different directions, you can output 3 bits at a time. And no reason you have to limit it to just 8 directions.
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He should eat lots of red hot grits... Slashdot style...
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tl;dr: Rachel bites a troll
You cheeky fat wastrel piece of shit, saying I'VE done nothing? For the LAST TIME, female webmaster called Rachel, wtf about that is fantasy??? You're just revealing how sick a perv you must be, assuming it's something fantasy-related, I am fed up of men begging me to be their mistress because they read crap meanings into my username, then claiming it's somehow my fault for having it!! Go project on someone else you abusive scum. Better yet, go kill yourself. Take some actual tran
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tl;dr: 20/20 hindsight...
Fucking awesome that "go a find a mirror" could have more than one meaning... one might think I was trying to imply he should go troll Soylent News, when actually I want him to see his fat ugly self. I'm quite pleased with how I look at the age of 37, I bet he didn't when was 37, probably already looking like the archetypal BOFH with too much money to waste on junk food and coke, and not enough people nearby in a position to moderate his abuse. Roll on 20 years, we have apk. That HO
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Heh, you've been duped. That is not a normal user post or I don't know shit about anything.
I was looking at a similar post recently with similar use of bold and caps that was complaining about right wing posters while specifically talking about their own physique although in that case they went on to discuss their calf implants.
Pro tip: Any time you see such a mess of formatting in a post it's not the work of a normal user. Are they crazy? Are they propagandists? Who knows. They certainly arent worth anyone
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You missed my point entirely. There is quite likely not a bit of honest anything in that post. The likely purpose of that post is to rile people up. While bashing regularly posting right wing types from slashdot's forums that poster has made themselves out to be the arch-type of the pathetic Leftist the more ignorant members of the Right want the Left to be. It insults idiot members of the Right while validating their world view.
Basically, this post's point is likely to make people argue more. I don't know
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Why yes. Give your ditch digger a backhoe, and that just enables you to exploit him for more work.
If you’re going to be a socialite, at least don’t be a Luddite socialist. That just assures that your ideas will never be tried out in a real country.
Would have been great for Hawking. (Score:2)
What about mobility? (Score:1)
That's great. Now I want them to be able operate a http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/P-5000_Powered_Work_Loader [wikia.com], so they can move around and send those aliens back where they came from.
Paralyzed Individuals (Score:2)
It's sad what political correctness is doing to the English language. We used to have a perfectly good words for "participants with tetraplegia" or "persons living with visual disability".
A single tablet for all of them??!? (Score:2)