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."

Comments

Gah! More tech for "paralyzed people"

[QuantumG]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to get in a car crash or fall off a horse before I can get some electrodes inserted in my head. I'm a programmer, I work with computers every day.. I think I qualify for a brain-computer interface better than someone who just happened to have the misfortune to lose control of their upper body! But no, every time some new piece of research discovers a brain-computer interface the first bunch of people they go running after are the paralyzed.

"However, the results so far lead us to believe that these brain-machine interfaces hold enormous promise for restoring function to paralyzed people."

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."