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Monkeys Play Videogames With Their Mind
Thanks to IOL/Reuters for their story discussing research on monkeys who control videogames with their thoughts. According to the piece, "Dr Miguel Nicolelis knew he had nailed it when the monkey stopped using her arm to play the computer game. An implanted device had allowed the monkey to control the game using only her thought." The research, to be printed in Public Library Of Science Biology Journal on Monday, is intended to help humans who "have partial or nearly total permanent paralysis."
Kevin Warwick has been doing this for ages.
...welcome our new cybernetic monkey overlords!
It's only a matter of time before they're flying jets...
System.out.println("Balmer singing: ");
while (true) {
System.out.println("Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, ");
}
SCO (noun.)- A Slimy Corporate Ogre. Often seeks free money.
Just once I'd like to hear "results so far lead us to believe that these brain-machine interfaces hold enormous promise for increased programmer productivity."
How we know is more important than what we know.
Why is this not posted under Science? Just because it uses games as part of the research doesn't mean its all just for entertainment.
Plenty of other brain-computer interface links have been posted under the proper category: Mind-Controlled Wheelchair, Controlling Robots with the Mind,Linking Hardware to Wetware, etc. This article is a continuation of this field's story.
Personally, I think this is one of the coolest areas of research around right now. The ability to, in the near future, help paralyzed people regain mobility and function would indeed be an incredible accomplishment, but that's just the start. This kind of research could help improve humans themselves. Imagine adding new cybernetic body parts, or even new senses (ability to 'see' infrared for example). There are a lot of potential possibilities. Forget the ad-hoc wireless computer networks, this tech could possibly enable something like an ad-hoc human brain network (telepathy anyone?) Seems very very cool and useful.
If this rate of progress keeps up (which seems likely), perhaps Slashdot will need to create a Brain-Computer Interface category.
She's been playing mind-games for years!
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
An implanted device had allowed the monkey to control the game using only her thought.
That's nice and all, but wouldn't it be more useful to build a device that lets us control monkeys with our thoughts!
After the apocalypse, when apes rule the planet, we'd be glad for such technology.
Dr Miguel Nicolelis knew he had nailed it when the monkey stopped using her arm to play the computer game.
Should this story be in the Ximian section? And isn't it "Dr Miguel d'incaza"? Also, I didn't know the Ximian monkey was female...
the advanced technology of the Atari 2600
http://videogames.org/html/images/mindlink.gif
Alex.
Explains why he couldn't communicate in english, at very least.
I'd love to be one of those human test subjects. Sit around all day and play video games without having to lift a finger? No need to ask twice, there!
Segfault (brain dump): Heart failure.
Monkeys Play Videogames With Their Mind
But... can it run linux?
In recent news a new counter strike clan has formed and won CAL. The clan is a little more grown up then most clans. The clan is a monkey only group. Some humans are complaining that it shouldn't count. Nowhere, in CAL's rules does it say no monkeys. One player on the team that lost was heard to say "OMG TH()SE M#KEYS PWNS US!!!!!1!"
peace be with you.
Do the monkeys get to have all the fun!
Bah
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
just imagine what we could do with a beowolf cluster of monkeys!
NJ Local Music Scene
Maybe we can use intravenous tubes to feed the monkeys while their minds are playing videogames. We could keep them locked in some type of pod.
The heat and electricity produced by many monkeys (maybe combined with some form of fusion) could be a valuable resource!
I stayed up for the Public Library of Science to go online. (Yay!)
ObBeKindServers: The actual article is 16 pages of neurobiology captured in a 3.3MB PDF file. Unless this is your field, you may find 13 of the 16 pages a difficult read.
A 28KB synopsis PDF file is much more accessable to those outside the field: Retraining the Brain to Recover Movement . Check it out first.
I am Mojo Jojo. The number of Mojo Jojos out there is one. There cannot be two Mojo Jojos and there cannot be three. There can only be one Mojo Jojo. If you were to say that there was another Mojo Jojo, that would be one Mojo Jojo too many, for I am the only Mojo Jojo, and furthermore if you were to address someone else as Mojo Jojo, that would be incorrect for I am the only one to be addressed in that fashion. Furthermore I had nothing to do with this incident you are describing on this web page on the internet. It is nothing but complete coincidence that this coincidence has happened. However, I, Mojo Jojo, am your master! And you shall obey my commands because I am your master. It is I who you will obey! Obeying my commands is what you will do. I will give you commands, and you will obey them! Ha ha ha ha ha! I do this because I am bad, I am evil, I am Mojo Jojo!
Wouldn't it be fun to let monkeys play themselves in role play games like The Sims? Or how about confronting a monkey head to head in Quake? Sure, the monkey would need better armor and weapons to match the experience of human players.
Donkey Kong.
All things in moderation; including moderation
just like better than life
or maybe not
better than life
well, kind of.
Here's the NYTimes' fairly long piece on it(free reg. req.).
While there is great potential for helping people with paralysis there is also potential to use such technology for military purposes. This is a small step in the direction of creating Terminators.
I am not a monkey! I prefer the term game developer, you insenstive clod!
Brian "Psychochild" Green
MMO developer's blog
At my highschool in world history we just spent an entire period writing views and thoughts about a story in the Oregonian about monkeys controlling a robotic arm with wired implants in their brain.
If you have any questions, the answer I'd most likely give you is budget cuts...
I kind of dislike this sort of testing being done on monkeys, i just think its wrong to force a perfectly fine animal into freakdom. If we're testing them on animals so that we can use the technology on humans who are paralyzed or something, I think we should let paralyzed people volunteer to test it. For lack of better words, theyre already messed up but if they really want a better life they should work for it.
I read this and thought immediately of Dr. Strangelove. A seemingly uncontrollable appendage that salutes Hitler, or tries to choke oneself.
:-)
Which leads to people with controlled appendages being hacked by Wardriving teens, and having people kill themselves in their sleep, or maybe kill someone else sleeping next to them.
Or if you could have someone's arm get controlled and slap the rear end of a woman in an elevator, or hit themselves in public, pick their nose at an inopportune time, spill a drink on someone else, knock over a chess board's pieces, steer the car into a bridge abutment, run off a pier or hiking trail...
Hmm... I smell a movie idea here! Kind of like "Liar, Liar".
Could you or someone else please post a mirror to this?
This reminds me of the article that was posted a while ago where somebody did a whole report on how the Matrix would be even possible, and somewhere in there it had something about attaching neurotransmitters into the brains and branching it out everwhere, and then have a computer detect what each neuron did, and then convert into movement.
Imagine the possibilites for gaming and science... pure virtual reality, etc.
Ghost in the Shell sure comes to my mind.
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
In soviet russia the computers control the monkey!
What? Oh Ape Escape...
Karma: -2^0.5 . Mainly due to the imbibing of dihydrogen monoxide
There was something like that.. It was called Idle Hands
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.