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29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, who was partially paralyzed after an accident at diving 8 years ago, became the first person to have a chip implanted in his brain by Neuralink.
We are talking about a “brain-computer” interface (in the Neuralink version the product was called “Telepathy”), which actually allows you to control actions on a computer with the power of thoughts.
- The Telepathy device contains over 1000 electrodes (much more than other implants) and targets individual neurons (many other devices in development target signals from groups of neurons), which should provide a higher degree of signal detection accuracy. The chip and electrodes are implanted into the patient's brain using a specially designed robotic surgeon, and wireless communication ensures that brain signals are sent to a special program called Neuralink, which decodes them into actions and intentions. The device is also recharged wirelessly.
In a livestream running on X, Arbo, who said he used to enjoy playing chess, plays the game on the computer by moving the cursor remotely – as if with the power of his thoughts.
https://t.co/OMIeGGjYtG
— Neuralink (@neuralink) March 20, 2024
The patient also noted that the implantation operation was “extremely easy”, and subsequently he only had to learn to distinguish “imaginary movement from attempted movement” in order to get used to controlling the cursor on the screen. In addition to chess, Arbo played Civilization V – previously this was only possible using special lipsticks.
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The man added that the Neuralink implant can work for 8 hours before requiring recharging.
“It doesn’t work perfectly, and we ran into some problems,” Arbaugh said. “There is a lot of work ahead, but this has already changed my life.”
Neuralink is a startup founded by Elon Musk in 2017 that is trying to create a brain-computer interface to help injured people control phones and PCs using the “power of thoughts.” In 2019, Musk said that Neuralink implanted a chip in the head of a monkey, which was then “able to control a computer.” Since then, the company has regularly published videos of monkeys allegedly playing video games or typing text “with the power of their thoughts.” The technology was also tested on pigs
Neuralink technology is based on decades of research into implanting electrodes in the human brain to interpret signals and treat conditions such as paralysis, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. One of the early devices, known as the Utah array, was first demonstrated in humans in 2004. Some Neuralink competitors, such as startup Synchron, offer an alternative method of implanting the chip – through blood vessels.
Noland Arbaugh became the first person to receive a Neuralink implant after the company received approval for the tests and announced patient enrollment in December. Neuralink has previously faced criticism from both animal rights activists and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine for the way it tested its interface on animals. Questions also arose regarding the transportation of potentially hazardous materials – the US Department of Transportation initiated an investigation and ultimately fined the company.
Musk’s biographical book said that Neuralink plans to operate on more than 20 thousand people by 2030. In general, in all his announcements, the billionaire expresses rather ambitious goals, such as the fact that the implant will one day help people “merge” with artificial intelligence.
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