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Controlling Robots with the Mind
loucura! writes "Scientific American has a fairly technical article on the real-time control of robotic limbs using recorded neuron patterns. The researcher's macaque has simultaneously controlled two robotic arms in addition to its own arm motion. The amazing thing? One of the arms was 600 miles away. So, they transmitted and translated the "commands" into motion in less than 300 milliseconds!" It's still a long ways off from helping the disabled or making a Dr. Octopus suit, but the potential uses are pretty cool.
Closing the loop is important. John Donoghue's lab at Brown has done that in its monkey work, and it was published recently (last few months, I think), and is so far the best (IMHO) work towards having the brain control an external interface.
Nicolelis and Chapin have had huge successes in their rodent implants, but their primate work is still coming. They are extremely technically proficient, and I expect much progress from them.
The litmus test I would use is if a researcher can implant a primate, teach it to use its brain to control an external interface, and have it work for more than a month with the animal progressively improving. So far, the first has been done by many, the second only by Donoghue, and the third by none. That is the obstacle, and the challenge ahead. Implants are not as easy as rocket science.