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Computer Control Implants for the Paralyzed

unassimilatible writes: "The Boston Globe is reporting that Cyberkinetics Inc. is about to ask federal regulators for permission to start testing a device that would enable paralyzed people to control computers directly with their brains or possibly help them move their limbs. Initially, the device, implanted into the brains of paralyzed people, will help them control a cursor on a screen or play video games. Researchers believe the technology could one day enable paralyzed people to type, control lights and heating controls, maneuver wheelchairs, or even manipulate robotic arms. I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004."

239 comments

  1. Stephen Hawking... by tommck · · Score: 0, Troll
    I look forward to challenging him to a fist fight!

    --
    ---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
    1. Re:Stephen Hawking... by tommck · · Score: 0, Redundant

      By the way... First (non spam) Post!

      --
      ---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
    2. Re:Stephen Hawking... by ashkar · · Score: 5, Funny

      I always wanted to see him matched against Christopher Reeves in Celebrity Deathmatch.

    3. Re:Stephen Hawking... by mrtroy · · Score: 1

      Good to know in the future we can beat up crips with their own hands still...

      Even if we have to hack their implants

      --
      [I can picture a world without war, without hate. I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it]
    4. Re:Stephen Hawking... by Bendebecker · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nah, personally, I'd fight Ghandi.

      --
      There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
      most of us won't be able to afford it.
      -- Lemmy
    5. Re:Stephen Hawking... by tommck · · Score: 1

      OK... that's pretty funny!

      Thanks for the laugh!

      --
      ---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
    6. Re:Stephen Hawking... by (void*) · · Score: 1

      Awww ... that just so lame.

    7. Re:Stephen Hawking... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Christopher Reeves? What would that be, Christopher Reeve and another guy also named Christopher Reeve?

    8. Re:Stephen Hawking... by fenix+down · · Score: 1

      The love child of crappy-ass flying Neo and crappy-ass flying Superman.

    9. Re:Stephen Hawking... by tommck · · Score: 1
      OK, so fighting Ghandi and Christopher Reeves is "+5, Funny", but fighting Stephen Hawking is "0, Troll"? WTF? Moderaters... re-fucking-lax!

      --
      ---- It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. It does this whenever it's told.
  2. Excellent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As soon as I am able to hack into the chips I will have my army of paral....no wait, that would be worthless.

    1. Re:Excellent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As soon as I am able to hack into the chips I will have my army of paral....no wait, that would be worthless.

      Brings a whole new meaning to 'zombie host', doesn't it?

  3. Remote control? by grasshoppa · · Score: 1

    So, let's say for conviencence and ease, these things are implanted in the head and they go wireless to the remote motors.

    Now, further, let's say we can hijack that signal.

    Personally, I'm hoping EVERYONE gets on of these. :)

    --
    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
    1. Re:Remote control? by nutshell42 · · Score: 1

      Watch Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - that's more or less exactly what happens in that show =)

      --
      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
  4. My claim to fame by mrtroy · · Score: 3, Funny

    I claimed I could beat the smartest man in the world at unreal tourney.

    Now they have to go and take that from me.

    Now, sharks can control those laser beams on their heads too!

    --
    [I can picture a world without war, without hate. I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it]
    1. Re:My claim to fame by lordmetroid · · Score: 1

      We can't afford Sharsk with friggin' laser beams attached to their heads... We have to do with samon!

    2. Re:My claim to fame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bass, you twit. (No, not bass and tweeters...)

    3. Re:My claim to fame by mrtroy · · Score: 1

      Ill tempered bass :)

      --
      [I can picture a world without war, without hate. I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it]
    4. Re:My claim to fame by legoleg · · Score: 1

      frickin' sea bass : )

    5. Re:My claim to fame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great, and I thought my new optical USB mouse was going to improve my lag time. Now they have an advantage by controlling the action directly from their brain. My brain signals have to travel down to my hand, then move the muscle to move the joystick. I'm screwed.

    6. Re:My claim to fame by fenix+down · · Score: 1

      Aaaaaannnndzipit.

    7. Re:My claim to fame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trust me, not for decades or centuries will neural implants beat real nerves for muscle control. There is *no*, I repeat *no*, technology available for getting fine-resolution signals from individual neurons. The only available permanent *sensor* neural electrodes collect signals from a large set of nerve cells, far too large a set of cells to provide anything like fine motor control

      And the filtering required to deal with the tremendous electrical noise of the body means a half-second delay before any valid signal is detected. It's just flipping useless for any fine motor control, although it might be helpful for gross motor control.

      Been there, done that, built the electronics....

  5. I, for one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new cybernetic paraplegic overlords.

    1. Re:I, for one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They moved the cursor of doom so slowly, by the time we noticed the big take over, it was too late. Have to run. Must give the master a sponge bath before he activates the pain collar.

    2. Re:I, for one... by Micro$will · · Score: 1

      We are Hawking of Borg. Resistance is futile. The Standard Model is irrelevant. All your PGL trophies are belong to us.

      Seriously, how much latency is there between the brain and an appendage? Wouldn't a cybernetic implant cut down on most of this and give them an unfair advantage in FPS games?

    3. Re:I, for one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is OT, but where do the "I, for one..." jokes come from?

    4. Re:I, for one... by GoneGaryT · · Score: 1
      I, for one, welcome our new cybernetic paraplegic overlords.

      Ta!

    5. Re:I, for one... by canajin56 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nerve impulses travel at about 120 m/s. If we assume we are talking about a big person, with 1.0 M from fingertip to brain, we are looking at about 8 ms of delay. Assuming we use some one-way protocol, the delay in using electrons to transmit the signal would be about 0.33 ps (1e-9 seconds) Obviously, the device would have to do some processing before sending the signal, but lets just ignore that. The average human has a reaction time of between 400 ms and 600 ms. Even assuming that gamers have super reaction times of 300 ms, an 8 ms decrease is 2.7%. So it is trivial. On the other hand, it may give an advantage in terms of accuracy. But so what, so does an expensive mouse. I heard that somebody modified Quake to give off audio clues of where everything on screen is, and blind people could kick sighted peoples' asses royally at it.

      To put it in computer terms, the human reaction time bottle neck isn't the IO subsystem, but the CPU ;)

      Something that MAY give an unfair advantage is eye-tracking. Because you don't THINK about looking at something that startles you, you just DO. So if the system can track your eye movements, you will aim WAY faster (Not to mention better) that with a mouse. So how would you fire your gun? Hmmm, Fred Sabberhagen used eye twitches or something in his Berserker novels...the problem with that is, if you are linking the game to your automatic reflexes, you better not be playing a team based game, because you will be shooting before you are even fully aware that you have seen something. (In the Berserker novels, they user lasers that operate on a specific frequency, and wore protective suits that reflect said frequency. So they didn't need to worry about shooting first, identifiying later, since they couldn't hurt one another) I know that have built eye tracking devices that chimps have been able to use to "click" on things like a mouse, by looking at a button and then blinking.

      --
      ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
    6. Re:I, for one... by fliptout · · Score: 1

      Simpsons episode where homer becomes an astronaut.

      --
      A witty saying proves you are wittier than the next guy.
    7. Re:I, for one... by UserGoogol · · Score: 3, Informative
      Episode 1F13 of the Simpsons, "Deep Space Homer." Homer, alongside Race Banyon and Buzz Aldrin, goes into space in NASA's attempt at boosting their slipping ratings, and in Homer's attempt to boost his popularity above that of an inanimate carbon rod.

      Allow me to set the scene. Homer, while floating around in the ship and eating Ruffles, crashes headfirst into an ant farm designed to study whether ants can be used to sort tiny screws in space. The ants fly everywhere.

      Kent: We're just about to get our first pictures from inside the spacecraft with "average-naut" Homer Simpson, and we'd like to -- aah! [Camera shows a close-up of an ant floating in front of the three astronauts]

      Ladies and gentlemen, er, we've just lost the picture, but, uh, what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has been taken over -- "conquered", if you will -- by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain, there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here.

      And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves.

      --
      "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor
    8. Re:I, for one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excellent Description. I would give you "Informative" Karma if I had it this week.

    9. Re:I, for one... by zeno_2 · · Score: 1

      Thats probably the single funniest scene on the simpsons, at least top 10..

    10. Re:I, for one... by Thing+1 · · Score: 1
      Way to farm karma: post a question AC, then post a brilliant answer a half hour later.

      Not that I'm accusing you of that. But I will cut-and-paste your response for future ... reference. ;-)

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
  6. Everyone knows... by WigginX · · Score: 2, Funny

    That Stephen Hawking is a QuakeMaster!

    1. Re:Everyone knows... by sirbone · · Score: 1

      And in fact GTA3 was based on his own life experiences.

      --
      "The State is that great fiction by which everyone lives at the expense of everyone else." -Frederic Bastiat.
  7. I, for one,... by wthynot · · Score: 1


    I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004.

    Whew.... Thank God. For a minute there I thought you were gonna say something else.

    1. Re:I, for one,... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...welcome our new paralyzed computer-chip-enhanced overlords!

  8. In other news... by Stile+65 · · Score: 1

    - Novell patents neuron, sells patent to SCO on the cheap; SCO sues Cyberkinetics for using SCO intellectual property in product.
    - Cyberkinetics awards Oracle contract to keep track of individual "Social Security - Media Access Control" addresses of devices in anticipation of federal mandate to implant device in all newborns

    --
    I claim first use of "Error No. 0B" - or "No. 0B error." It'll be the new ID 10T!
    1. Re:In other news... by PReDiToR · · Score: 1

      3. Profit!!!!

      --

      Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
  9. Hawking by DrEldarion · · Score: 3, Funny

    I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004.

    I didn't realize that you meant playing AGAINST Hawking at first, and I got an image in my head of a polygonal guy in a wheelchair with a robotic arm holding a monstrous gun zipping all over the screen. It made me chuckle.

    1. Re:Hawking by MrResistor · · Score: 2, Funny

      A Stephen Hawking skin would be sweet! You'd have to have the full selection of audio taunts as well, of course.

      --
      Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
    2. Re:Hawking by borgboy · · Score: 1

      not to mention a Pink Floyd soundtrack.

      --
      meh.
    3. Re:Hawking by gid13 · · Score: 1

      On the off chance that anyone doesn't know about this yet...

      http://mchawking.com/

    4. Re:Hawking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "...I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004."
      or the X-games.

    5. Re:Hawking by (H)elix1 · · Score: 1

      I got an image in my head of a polygonal guy in a wheelchair with a robotic arm holding a monstrous gun zipping all over the screen.

      Oh come now, this is Hawking after all - I'm sure the translocator would be his weapon of choice.

  10. screw Unreal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I look forward to playing Duke Nukem Forever against Terry Schiavo.

    I'll let you decide why that will never happen.

  11. ObMoreSimpsons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004.

    Lisa, are you done playing with your robot friend?

    Ashamed to log in...

  12. What about me!? by Leolo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why only paralysed people? Why can't I have a cortical link? IMHO, all current computer I/O devices SUCK. Screens are limited. Keyboards are pain. And don't get me started on mice! I hate having to sit at my desk to use the computer. Why can't I pace up and down the room?

    1. Re:What about me!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      "Why only paralysed people? Why can't I have a cortical link? "

      I suppose you could, if you can find a surgeon who will do it. But I think you're misunderstanding how effictive the control is.
      What's a miracle for a quadraplegic would no doubt still be a handicap for you.

      Just because wheelchairs are fast doesn't mean you'd benefit from one...

    2. Re:What about me!? by DzugZug · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Why only paralysed people?

      Simple, funding.
      It is a lot easier for researchers to get grant to "cure a disease" than it is to make computer access easier for everyone. It is also easier to get FDA approval for human trials when the goal is to improve quality of life for disabled people than it is when the goal is to make cooler video games.

      Be patient. The medical applications come first, the consumer ones will follow.

    3. Re:What about me!? by mrtroy · · Score: 1

      "Just because wheelchairs are fast doesn't mean you'd benefit from one..."

      You know if you could get one under your company health plan, you would have one.

      And the fastest, meanest one out there. And beat the real handicapped people to the best parking spots to unload that baby.

      --
      [I can picture a world without war, without hate. I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it]
    4. Re:What about me!? by PReDiToR · · Score: 1

      According to an article I read recently its pr0n that makes all technological advances develop.

      And yes, I am pissed that I can't find the URL of it. How did you guess?

      --

      Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
    5. Re:What about me!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    6. Re:What about me!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry fatty. The day will come where you don't have to move except to eat, and pretty soon we'll have a robotic jaw that will chew for you too!

    7. Re:What about me!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and the medical applications for pr0n cum 1st, the consumer ones follow

    8. Re:What about me!? by Thing+1 · · Score: 1
      First, we develop the brain-computer link. Then, we develop computers smarter than us.

      Yes, it's a Matrix reference. However, I want one too! Department of Ironic Department.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
  13. Does it do enough to justify... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...the risks involved with putting the device in one's skull. It sounds like a very course cursor control. If it could allow typing or environmental controls, it would be worth it, but until then, stick with the monkeys.

    1. Re:Does it do enough to justify... by slappyjack · · Score: 1

      Thats something to be decided by the person gettign a hole drilled in their skull, yes?

      Anyone rememebr that blind guy that can now "see" in very low resolution thanks to a couple of cameras mounted on glasses, a wearable computer, and a bunch of leads runing into his brain? (I looked for the article in Wired, where I first read about it, but was foiled by my hangover) HE seemed to think it was worth the risk, even though calibration the thing gave him a really nasty seisure once.

      Some people will want this, some wont. I'll be happy to wait until its a proven technology before I get a datajack implanted behing my ear.

      Than again, I'm still trying to get ahead ehough to afford to get my eyes lasered.

    2. Re:Does it do enough to justify... by critter_hunter · · Score: 1

      Behind the ear is a Vehicle Control Rig. Datajacks are plugged in front the ear, usually, although subsequent sourcebooks introduced datajacks in cybereyes, fingertips, then later on pretty much anywhere. Behind the ear is still riggerland though, and is quite possibly the best way to identify riggers from those other speed challenged weenies.

      Man, now I need to play Shadowrun. Where's the gamemaster when you need him?

      --
      Karma: Could be worse (could be raining)
  14. Hell yeah... by KanshuShintai · · Score: 1

    I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004.

    w3rd.

  15. Watch out, now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004.

    This isn't entirely a "twitch" game anymore. It's his brain power against your finger power.

    You're all screwed.

    1. Re:Watch out, now. by Kentamanos · · Score: 1

      Guys with thousands of career beers have enough problems as it is. Now we're really screwed :).

    2. Re:Watch out, now. by KD5YPT · · Score: 1

      I don't think so, since using brain power to control cursor required a machine to interpret the brain signal and act accordingly. In another word, double lag.

      --
      In US, you can easily buy enough major firearms to wipe out your neighbourhood but a few little fireworks are banned.
    3. Re:Watch out, now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And you'll still get pwned, because you're stupid and you:

      CAN THE MAN HAM!

  16. Kent Brokman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I, for one, welcome our wisecracking article posters.

  17. Hawking can already kick your ass in Quake and GTA by Rayonic · · Score: 5, Funny
    As is chonicled in his MP3 archive. So I quoteth the bard:

    The Mighty Stephen Hawking is a fucking Quake god,
    got my finger on the trigger and my eye on the quad.
    I know it's just a game, but I didn't come to play,
    the Hawkman cometh and he's bringing Doomsday.
    You say, "impressive", I already know it,
    I'm a hardcore player and I'm not afraid to show it.
    I got a Phd in pain and a masters in disaster,
    the mighty Stephen Hawking is a fucking QuakeMaster.
  18. it's been done by The+Tyro · · Score: 1

    I always thought Half-Life protagonist Gordon Freeman bore a slight resemblance to Hawking.

    I wouldn't want to play him though; I get Pwn3d enough as it is...

    --
    Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
  19. Something else, too. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Think about it...if this device could be implemented without implants, you could have some really great new input devices for the average user...

    Combine it with perhaps a P7 glove and you'll never need a mouse and keyboard every again! The hand controls movement and the headset controls all the little things like switches, etc.

  20. bah... by mantera · · Score: 1

    you're still paralyzed; i'd rather invest hope in stem cell research that maybe one day will enable you to grow new limbs and nerves.

    1. Re:bah... by phorm · · Score: 1

      Why not have both. Stem cell research and brain-interactive technology are both promising, and both might actually be able to interact with each other in the future as well.

      If I had the choice between a new arm a robotic one... might actually be a tough call. How about terminator-style flesh-over-metal. You have surgical stainless bones and one hella strong grip, but you can still feel due to nerves in the overlaying flesh.

      Technology can, and do, exist quite nicely in many situations.

    2. Re:bah... by mantera · · Score: 1


      you know what intrigues me the most about what you just said... when they'll be able simulate tactile sensations so that it'll add that long overdue dimension to virtual reality...

      visual stuff is somewhat easily to simulate and it's already here, so is audio, but once sensation is emulated... that'll be a whole new world of virtual reality... who knows... the porn industry might actually be the engine that'll fuel this innovation as they've already been towards much of internet drive so far...

    3. Re:bah... by Matrix272 · · Score: 1

      the porn industry might actually be the engine that'll fuel this innovation as they've already been towards much of internet drive so far...

      Damn, what a splendid day that will be. Imagine sitting down at your computer at home, alone on a Friday night, and starting up Jenna Jameson's Virtual Sex... and then seeing her hovering over you, with those luscious, beautiful breasts heaving with every thrust..... um, oops... sorry. I'll clean that off the keyboard, really.

      --
      "It's better to have a gun and not need it than need a gun and not have it." ~ Christian Slater, True Romance
    4. Re:bah... by mantera · · Score: 1

      i just did a google image search on this name you mentiond, this woman is somewhat unsightly and i wouldn't have sex with her even if i was paid.

    5. Re:bah... by acidrain69 · · Score: 1

      New limbs AND nerves?

      I can just picture Stephen Hawking in a Vishnu pose with like 6 arms and an orange halo/aura, about to unleash devestation.

      --
      -- Having a Creationist Museum is like having an Atheist place of worship
    6. Re:bah... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Six arms, great... but do you think you can give me a couple more dicks.. I've got a lot of catching up to do..."

      -Stephan Hawking, 2007

  21. Hawking and CS by Tebriel · · Score: 1

    In CounterStrike, Hawking would be an AWP whore.

    Someone needs to frag his ass.

    --
    The Blaster Master Fighting for Truth, Justice, and Evil Pie since 1979
    1. Re:Hawking and CS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In CounterStrike, Hawking would be an AWP whore.

      Someone needs to frag his ass.


      His ass already is fragged.

  22. Good news for Captain Pike by serutan · · Score: 1

    Remember this? Two lights: one for for yes, one for no!

    Couldn't find a larger version.

    1. Re:Good news for Captain Pike by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here's the after picture.

    2. Re:Good news for Captain Pike by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      He's too busy getting his brain humped on the Planet of the Buttheads.

      Catch the joke on Enterprise? The last 5,000 humans settle on Ceti-Alpha 6...

  23. WIRED article by KJE · · Score: 2, Informative
    I remember WIRED having an article about this sort of thing. It's a couple of years old but here you go:

    http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.08/assist.htm l

  24. Firing existing muscles by Kentamanos · · Score: 1

    Although it's only mentioned briefly in the article, I think firing existing muscles would be a lot more natural than robotic or robotic assisted limbs. It would make people feel less awkward in public if they didn't have all of the extra equipment. I guess the muscles would be severely atrophied at first and it would take quite a bit of "working out", but in the long run it seems a lot more natural.

    What type of hardware would it take to "fire muscles"? It seems in that case you'd have to run wires to all of the muscles or to the nerve endings connected to the muscles.

    1. Re:Firing existing muscles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are already groups working on this -- I think I saw it on Scientific American Frontiers with Alan Alda a while back, or a similar program. Looked _very_ promising -- but I think it would be aimed at different kinds of disabilities. For folks with locked-in syndrome, "firing muscles" probably wouldn't work, as they have no physical control whatsoever.

    2. Re:Firing existing muscles by happyfrogcow · · Score: 1

      maybe, but i want 4 prosthetic arms and my 2 real arms so i can be one freak of a machine. not to mention, i want to be thought-linked to a monkey that does everything for me I think of, like swipe my subway pass and buy my 6 cups of coffee for each hand.

      hmm, but then would i need a subway pass for my monkey?

    3. Re:Firing existing muscles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would you have to have wires running to all the muscels just use wires to jump where the break is or where the damaged nerves are. In rare cases would you have to wire up the whole body in that case make it easer on the person and make it some they would not have to have an ungodly amount of surgery and go with robotic or robotic assited limbs.

    4. Re:Firing existing muscles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doc Oc? That you?

    5. Re:Firing existing muscles by Zagnar · · Score: 1

      ohh... I want some Bionics, some machine guns, and neat springy legs...

    6. Re:Firing existing muscles by fenix+down · · Score: 1

      Firing muscles artificially would probably be at least as weird as robotic arms. You have that artificial link disrupting everything, so you won't have anywhere near the responsiveness you'd get with your real arm. Plus, you have to worry about hurting yourself. If you can zap your foot into moving without being able to feel how badly it's being crushed under the sofa you just set down on top of it, I don't think you've come out ahead. I have a feeling it'll be harder to handle sensation artificially than motion.

    7. Re:Firing existing muscles by Kentamanos · · Score: 1

      Very good points...

      It would definitlely take a lot of training to move your limbs smoothly, but I forgot all about the lack of feeling. That makes the whole thing seem pretty risky. You could break bones without even realizing you'd done it until a limb stops moving properly (or worse the fracture becomes compound).

  25. Slippery Slope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    First they put it in paralyzed people. Eventually they will put into everyone's brain so that they could read our thoughts. Ashcroft would LOVE that!

    1. Re:Slippery Slope by jazznjava · · Score: 1
      Eventually they will put into everyone's brain

      Let's hope that it's not made by Belkin.... our thoughts forwarded to an 'opt out' ad every 8 hours...

  26. Robotic arms? by theparanoidcynic · · Score: 1

    Why worry about robotic arms? If they can come up with some sort of tactile feedback system it would be relatively straightforward to use the system as a replacement for the defunct nervous system and have the patient control their own limbs.

    --
    Only in a Slashdot fantasy can a Slackware install turn into several hours of sex . . . . .
  27. Hacking or Cracking by onyxruby · · Score: 1

    So is it hacking or cracking when someone breaks in and overtakes the paralyzed person limbs?

    1. Re:Hacking or Cracking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So is it hacking or cracking when someone breaks in and overtakes the paralyzed person limbs?

      BUMFIGHTS 3!

  28. I'm not sure it's a good idea by fstanchina · · Score: 1

    I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004.

    I'd think twice before confronting one of the best physicists around. Picture this: Stephen gets tired of being fragged, sits back at his desk for a while and gets back to the action with a new relativistic time-and-space-warping weapon that makes a BFG10K look as dangerous as a water pistol. Scary.

    1. Re:I'm not sure it's a good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why on earth would Stephen Hawking waste his time playing computer games? Do you really think everybody enjoys the same thing you do? Besides, people like him could use this technology to the betterment of mankind, not the pitiful waste of time and resources playing videogames entails. end flame....but please realize that you can spend your time doing beneficially things for society. peace out homey-g.

    2. Re:I'm not sure it's a good idea by fstanchina · · Score: 1

      I think you are a bit humor-impaired. It was a joke. I have the greatest respect for Stephen, having a bit of training in physics myself.

      (however, I do in fact enjoy playing first-person shooters -- a lot)

  29. Serious predictions by heironymouscoward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It will happen....

    It will be used for porn...

    It will be used as a drug...

    It will be used for gaming...

    Finally, it will be used in business.... ...but it will never be used to help the disabled.

    They just don't have any economic power.

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
    1. Re:Serious predictions by JPelorat · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah? Then why the hell do I have to sit through 300 motorized wheelchair commercials a night when I'm trying to watch Modern Marvels on the History Channel?

      --
      Hokey statistics and ancient misconceptions are no match for a good thought in your head, kid!
    2. Re:Serious predictions by Jesrad · · Score: 1

      If this technology becomes available, believe me Social Security here in my country WILL buy it for the disabled. There go my future taxes...

      --
      Maybe we deserve this world ?
    3. Re:Serious predictions by Matimus · · Score: 1

      If disabled people were enabled to work, it would benefit a lot of people economicly. Especially if it was sucessful enough that they could provide and care for themselves.

      --
      GENERATION 25: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social exper
    4. Re:Serious predictions by mrtroy · · Score: 1

      oh dear god I just fell out of my non-motorized chair laughing at that.

      The motorized wheelchairs are a huge seller due to laziness, not handicap. You dont have to advertise for the handicap, they come looking for you! (no soviet russia comments please)

      But seriously, just the old and the lazy buy those wheelchairs off of the commercials. I saw some perfectly abled person actually lift one of those out of a rut (yes, like seinfeld with george running with his)

      --
      [I can picture a world without war, without hate. I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it]
    5. Re:Serious predictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Making it *HARDER* for the able bodied people to find work than it already is.

    6. Re:Serious predictions by Daemonik · · Score: 2, Funny

      I predict that lazy people will become even lazier when they no longer have to even move their finger to change the channel on the TV.

      Microsoft, the RIAA and the MPAA will fight to have your brain DRM'd so that you can't even think about their products without paying the licensing fees.

      Brain hacking will be the next big teenage geek sport with Sobig2010 causing major epileptic fits around the world.

      All pretenses of religion will be dropped for the truely important holy crusade of MacHeads vs Penguinistas vs MSsheep. Who will own the source code to your brain?

    7. Re:Serious predictions by evilWurst · · Score: 1

      Those companies selling wheelchairs and motorized wheelchairs and stairlifts disagree.

    8. Re:Serious predictions by falconed · · Score: 1
      I don't really see how this one could be used for porn (at least not for the paralyzed person) or drugs. And they will (at least partially) be used for disabled people -- look at wheelchairs for instance.

      This seems like a one way connection -- data only flows from the user's brain to the robotic arm or screen cursor. The next step will be enabling the other direction so that the arm can tell the user what it's feeling and instead of the user looking at the screen to see the cursor, the image is sent directly to their brain. Of course, that's exactly what the Matrix is built on ;)

      --
      USE='clever' emerge -u sig
    9. Re:Serious predictions by secretasiandan · · Score: 1
      Your assumption is that there's no money in helping the disabled. Well there's a lot of money in it, with lifetime care of each patient costing over a million dollars on average, making it a multi-billion dollar industry.

      http://www.spinalcord.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=21446

      You also seem to neglect the fact that not all people are selfish

      --
      Is this where my sig goes?
    10. Re:Serious predictions by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 1

      The disabled have TONS of economic power. Before Dean Kamen invented the Segway, he made his fortune designing things for disabled people. He built a wheelchair that climbs stairs and used some of the stabilization technology in the Seqway.
      Helping the disabled is a niche market but lucrative because lots of people NEED these devices. You can also garantee repeat customers. Basically, anything remotely involving health care is looking like a good bet for the next 20 years. I plan on wringing every dollar I can out of aging Baby Boomers.

      -B

    11. Re:Serious predictions by PReDiToR · · Score: 1

      I don't really see how this one could be used for porn (at least not for the paralyzed person)

      How about giving them the ability to masturbate? Does that count under the pr0n canopy?

      --

      Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
    12. Re:Serious predictions by heironymouscoward · · Score: 1

      "Not all people are selfish"?

      What a curious comment. (Shakes head, amazed.)

      Anyhow, yes, there is money to be made in selling wheelchairs, crutches, whatever. Medical insurance and over-priced essentials are good buddies. But we don't sit around discussing the latest motorized wheelchair like we discuss the latest movie or MP3 player.

      New technology rarely benefits the people who most desperately need it. It sucks but it's true.

      I'm still amazed at your comment about selfishness. I simply never met a person who was not selfish, and the ones who claimed the loudest to be unselfish were generally the worst offenders.

      Would you cut off your finger to save a starving stranger? Nah, didn't think so...

      --
      Ceci n'est pas une signature
    13. Re:Serious predictions by arcmay · · Score: 1
      I think you're wrong. Most of the people working on this kind of stuff are looking primarily at applications to help the disabled. That is not only where the funding is, but some people are actually interested in improving the quality of life for others.

      Some semi-recent articles in Psychology Today and Wired.

      Personally, I think the technique of reading EEGs off the scalp is going to be more popular, at least in the short term. It isn't invasive and it is much less expensive. Disclaimer: My masters thesis is on EEG classification for BCI, so I might be biased :)

      (I hope those links are OK...Preview isn't working for some reason.)

    14. Re:Serious predictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If disabled people were enabled to work, it would benefit a lot of people economicly. Especially if it was sucessful enough that they could provide and care for themselves.

      You have to be kidding me, I already have enough of a hard time finding a good paying job without having to compete with those damn Equal oppertunity Cripples!!

    15. Re:Serious predictions by secretasiandan · · Score: 1
      We apparantly do sit around talking about the latest motorized wheelchair

      And we also sit around talking about technology being developed to help the disabled. This article is one such example. The first paragraph of cyberkinetics' website specifically addresses treating nervous system disorders.

      You seem to be really caught up on your idea of "everyone is selfish". My comment about selfishness was addressing your argument about economic motivation. Could I have possibly been saying that just because there isn't a profit to be made (and for sure there is in this) doesn't mean people won't do something to help others? Ever hear of doctors without borders?

      To address the other type of selfishness that you digress into, apparently there are people who will give more than just a finger for people they dont' know. They're called the armed forces.

      --
      Is this where my sig goes?
    16. Re:Serious predictions by s0l0m0n · · Score: 1

      That's not entirely true.

      There are a number of people who are seriously disabled in the world.

      Not all of the handicapped are just 'lazy', asshole.

  30. great... by cloudship_tacitus · · Score: 1

    now, not only can ten year olds kick my ass in wolfenstein, but so can people who can't even move their bodies. ;)

  31. grudge match! by Tumbleweed · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hawking vs Davros! Oh yeah...

    The winner plays Captain Christopher Pike.

    (I'm such a geek. *sigh*)

    1. Re:grudge match! by mrwright · · Score: 1

      Hawking vs Davros?

      vs isn't quite the right word....

      b3ta has the answer...

    2. Re:grudge match! by bludstone · · Score: 1

      Theres a Chrisopher Reeve joke hidden around here somewhere, I just know it.

      --

      no .sig
    3. Re:grudge match! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Davros will be disqualified when he kills one of his own supporters after the supporter shouts "Hey Davros! Who's the man!"

    4. Re:grudge match! by nEoN+nOoDlE · · Score: 1

      (I'm such a geek. *sigh*)

      *beep* ... *beep* (translation: I concur)

      --
      Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
  32. Yes, but... by 3Suns · · Score: 1

    do YOU run Linux? ::sorry::

    --

    -3Suns

    ~~~~
    The Revolution will be Slashdotted
  33. Isn't this still just biofeedback by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    No one is reading your thoughts and translating them into movement. You get a biofeedback system to you have to be trained to use. And with biofeedback, you get lazy movements of a curser, not fast or precise enough for typing, or much of anything useful. I bet we'll be growing spinal cord before we have a true neural translator that could generate movement from pure thoughts of movement.

  34. Think bigger! by Chris_Stankowitz · · Score: 0
    So, let's say for conviencence and ease, these things are implanted in the head and they go wireless to the remote motors.

    Now, further, let's say we can hijack that signal.

    Personally, I'm hoping EVERYONE gets on of these. :)


    Just really hot chicks. Of course I can't honestly say i've seen many hot handicapped women, I'm sure there are more than a few though.

    1. Re:Think bigger! by gilrain · · Score: 1

      Your proposing that we should rape pretty women simply because they would be helpless? Christ. Where do you live, and have you registered yet?

    2. Re:Think bigger! by fenix+down · · Score: 1

      Raping women with the help of their own robotic limbs? It's a Robert Heinlein Wonderland!

  35. I'm gonna watch Matrix 3 tomorrow by October_30th · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm gonna watch Matrix 3 tomorrow. I'm going to pay plenty of euros for the experience. What should I expect?

    --
    The owls are not what they seem
    1. Re:I'm gonna watch Matrix 3 tomorrow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Expect to support the US economy by watching that piece of crap. (In other words: don't watch it. Watch some nice European movie with less explosions and more brains)

    2. Re:I'm gonna watch Matrix 3 tomorrow by Cap'n+Canuck · · Score: 1

      I'm gonna watch Matrix 3 tomorrow. I'm going to pay plenty of euros for the experience. What should I expect?

      You'll be plenty of euros poorer.

    3. Re:I'm gonna watch Matrix 3 tomorrow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be modded into oblivion.

    4. Re:I'm gonna watch Matrix 3 tomorrow by October_30th · · Score: 1
      Watch some nice European movie with less explosions and more brains

      Any suggestions?

      --
      The owls are not what they seem
    5. Re:I'm gonna watch Matrix 3 tomorrow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      expect that you should have pirated the vcds from suprnova.org

    6. Re:I'm gonna watch Matrix 3 tomorrow by October_30th · · Score: 1

      Why should I experience a special-effect filled movie on a shitty 18" TFT screen instead of a movie screen?

      --
      The owls are not what they seem
    7. Re:I'm gonna watch Matrix 3 tomorrow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Expect that Trinity dies by being impaled as they crash into the computer city. Neo gets blinded by the Smith guy, but can still "see" matrix-like. Neo makes a deal with the computer boss for peace with humanity in exchange for fighting Smith. He then fights Smith, and dies at the end but kills Smith in the process for some unexplained reason. The Architect wonders how long the peace will last... and it'll last until the next sequel I guess.

  36. Expanding on that... by jawschlech · · Score: 1
    Researchers believe the technology could one day enable paralyzed people to type, control lights and heating controls, maneuver wheelchairs, or even manipulate robotic arms.
    This could foreseeably be used in anyone, couldn't it? It would be much faster to type with your mind rather than your fingers and would eliminate the occurance of carpal tunnel and like things. Heck, you could change channels just thinking about it or turn on the light without getting out of bed. (A new era of laziness!) I wonder if an input chip could be developed, too--it could possibly help the vision and hearing impaired, couldn't it?
    --
    JAWSchlech "The secret to success is knowing who to blame for your mistakes." - Despair.com
    1. Re:Expanding on that... by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      Vision's already been done, decades ago. They're still working on getting it to a good resolution and smaller package. Right now, I think it's a big whopping cable into your head, a large computer on your waist, and a clunky pair of camera glasses.

  37. How long before.... by public_class_name_ex · · Score: 0

    "There's an inserter, a spring-loaded thing, that taps it into the brain with just the right amount of force," said Surgenor in a telephone interview. The wire array will be positioned over one of the areas of the brain known to control motor activity


    How long before it is placed over other areas of the brain which generate "mental intentions" (terminology from the article) of, say criminal behavior?

  38. UT2004? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh come now, we all know that Stephen Hawking is a fucking QuakeMaster

  39. Re:This story paralyzed me with it's honesty & by Zeriel · · Score: 1

    While I doubt you wrote it yourself, a brilliant and original offtopic troll of the first rank. My hat is off to you.

    --
    "America has done some terrible things. But I know that Americans don't cheer when innocents die." -Dave Barry
  40. Nothing new here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These devices have been used and tested since the 1980s. It's old news.

  41. Ouch by roninmagus · · Score: 1

    What happens now when they decide they want to use their fun new robot arms to rip people apart?

  42. No, I'm New Here by New+Here · · Score: 0

    No, I'm New Here

    1. Re:No, I'm New Here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. Fuck you. Fuck you with a thousand shards of the True Cross you fucking whore. Christ. I'm gonna rip out your spleen and feed it to your own ravenous asshole you freak of nature.

  43. Experiment on the Vulnerable by handy_vandal · · Score: 1

    Some able-bodies people ask, How come the paralyzed get cybernetic implants, and not me?

    Answer: because the implants are dangerous new techologies, so let's begin our experiments with subjects who have so much more to gain, thus less to lose when things go wrong.

    --
    -kgj
  44. Hawkins would whip your ass. by crovira · · Score: 2, Funny

    He thinks in more dimensions than you've got limbs. You'd be toast in a minute.

    Lets hope that Gates doesn't get into his head that this is potentially life extending though. Think about it, when you're old and feeble, your drones can have just come off the assembly line. Then again, running Windows on his implants might be fitting punishment.

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
    1. Re:Hawkins would whip your ass. by El · · Score: 1
      He thinks in more dimensions than you've got limbs. You'd be toast in a minute.

      Yes, but he's still laboring under the misconception that when you reach the end of the game, time reverses itself and the games plays backwards back to the beginning...

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

    2. Re:Hawkins would whip your ass. by elohim · · Score: 1

      "I have difficulty thinking more than two dimensions." -Stephen Hawking

  45. Animal Testing by Tacomanator · · Score: 1

    Read the comment someone made about sharks with laser beams on their head and it made me think: I wonder if they have developed any of this technology with animal testing. I for one am not only interested in the human aspect, but am also interested in how much capacity an animal would have for learning to control a robotic arm that brings it food or something of that sort.

    1. Re:Animal Testing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should read the article.

    2. Re:Animal Testing by dowobeha · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes, this has been tested. A week or so ago I heard a story on NPR where researchers connected a monkey's brain to a computer. The monkey had a joystick in its hands which controlled a robotic arm. Eventually, the monkey figured out that it could set down the joystick and continue to control the robotic arm using nothing but its brain.

      --
      I am concerned about any program, any piece of hardware, any treaty, any law that treats me as a consumer, not a citizen
    3. Re:Animal Testing by forrestt · · Score: 1

      Well, I for one would like to have my cat learn that every time it even THINKS about peeing on the floor it will be controlling a switch to zap itself.

    4. Re:Animal Testing by Kentamanos · · Score: 1

      I assume this is the Duke University experiment mentioned in the article?

    5. Re:Animal Testing by Ophidian+P.+Jones · · Score: 1

      No, just some guy from Harlem.

    6. Re:Animal Testing by dowobeha · · Score: 1

      Yup. I guess I should have read the article, then posted my reply rather than the reverse. :} But yes, the NPR story was talking about the same Duke research.

      --
      I am concerned about any program, any piece of hardware, any treaty, any law that treats me as a consumer, not a citizen
    7. Re:Animal Testing by Kentamanos · · Score: 1

      It's all coming back to me now...
      Slashdot story

  46. It's Cracking... by roberto0 · · Score: 1

    ...if it's against that person's will. It's hacking if you're messing with the code so your quadraplegic pal can throw a 90mph fastball...

    --
    Those who can, do. Those who can't, simulate.
  47. One step closer to the Matrix... by Txiasaeia · · Score: 1

    ...but seriously, I can't wait. What geek would *not* love having the fridge door open, a Coke can fly out, and a coaster leaping in the air to catch it? The Cybernetic Force is strong with this one...

    --
    Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
    1. Re:One step closer to the Matrix... by Cheerio+Boy · · Score: 1

      Add a dose of nanotech and you have the makings of a Technomage from B5.

      --

      "Bah!" - Dogbert
  48. Computer Controlled Implants Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just imagine, you can get computer controlled implants
    for your wife or girlfriend or blow-up doll. Then you can
    make her breasts as small or large as you like. It would
    make the world a better place.

  49. /. way behind again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    man, I remember when /. used to have news, not yesterdays news, or last weeks for that matter. the stories on here don't even beat CNBC to the punch anymore.

    I hope the next story doesn't report we invaded iraq.

  50. Duke University by falconed · · Score: 4, Interesting
    This tech works -- this article talks about a team of researchers at Duke that were able to connect sensors to a monkey's brain and then use the brain patters to drive a robot arm. As the monkey reached for food, so would the arm. The cool part is that the arm was located in a lab 950km away.

    My coworker (a Duke alum) told me that the researchers then tied down the monkey's arm and asked it to reach for the food again. The monkey's arm didn't move, but the robotic arm did. I can't find any articles on that, but here's one about some monkey's playing video games just by thinking it. Cool stuff.

    --
    USE='clever' emerge -u sig
  51. One small step by belangil · · Score: 1

    I like it. Sure it's in its infancy now but once they start getting good at this sort of thing it has all kinds of potential, not just for the disabled. Talk about a sweet human computer interface. Does anybody know if they have bi-directional communication on these things yet? But why limit it to human computer interfaces, why not human to human? If it can be used to control it should be able to be used for communication. Or why limit it to an external party how about a self interface. There are a lot of involuntary muscle responses that may not always be the best reaction to a situation, having complete control over ones own body has some interesting potential as well. I just hope they don't use WEP to secure it.

  52. I can see the commercial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Help, I've fallen and I can't reboot!"

  53. Tech moving quickly... by Richard+Allen · · Score: 1

    It's interesting that this article predicted it would take decades for this to happen. http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2000nov/gee20001 117002940.htm

  54. In other news... by fetus · · Score: 2, Funny

    Computer Controls Implants in Wife..

    "When the kids are away, i set them to DD. But if there's company over or Sally is going out with co-workers, I like to bring 'em down to a conservative B.

  55. Blue Screen of Death by ls-lta · · Score: 1

    Has a slightly different meaning for drivers and doctors using this technology.

  56. z73ph3n H4wking in d4 hizz0uz3! by BurKaZoiD · · Score: 1

    I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004...

    z73p|-|3|\| |-|4wki|\|9 0w|\|z j00!

  57. Re:Hawking can already kick your ass in Quake and by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why is that informative? It is a JOKE people!! I am suprised these people are not familiar with MCHawking.

  58. When it come out Ill use it to... by dark-br · · Score: 1

    play Duke Nukem Forever :)

  59. Don't even think it. by jtheory · · Score: 1

    Word to the wise; the Hawk-man's not a target for the faint of heart. I'll bet you've only read about his scientific achievements. You should read up on how he spends his free time.

    He's not the soft-hearted scientist you think he is -- I heard about how he capped a bunch of MIT punks last year in a driveby. Dum-dum clip loaded in his AK-47, bustin out bullets to the beat of the bass... it wasn't a pretty sight for the cleanup crew the next morning.

    He'll lay the whole story down for you, here (scroll down to the links for "All My Shootin's be Drivebys").

    --
    There are only 10 types of people: those who understand decimal, those who don't, and, uh, 8 other types I forget.
  60. Natural Selection... by Xarius · · Score: 0

    It's things like this that ensure slow, stupid people survive. I am a firm believer in natural selection--I curse the zebra crossings for allowing fat little noisy children to survive--and we are trying to beat it down.

    The human race will stop advancing in terms of survival of the fittest. We need to stop letting people live and reproduce that, by natural law, shouldn't. To quote bash.org:

    <xterm> The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
    --
    C17H21NO4
    1. Re:Natural Selection... by El · · Score: 1

      How exactly do thought-controlled cybernetic limbs allow people to reproduce? Ok, that's a mental image I could have lived the rest of my life without...

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  61. Cool by NialScorva · · Score: 1

    "Computer Control Implants for the Paralyzed"

    But why would I want to control a paralyzed person?

  62. Hawking by belgar · · Score: 1

    "I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004."

    Damn! I didn't realize that skin was out yet.

    --
    What does it mean to wake out of a dream
    and be wearing someone else's shorts?
    BNL, Born on a Pirate Ship (1998)
  63. Neat game ideas from this by MagikSlinger · · Score: 1

    There's an anime called Angelic Layer that uses this basic idea and extends it to controlling a small robot fighter in a virtual environment.

    There's all sorts of interesting game ideas you could take from this. Of course, as others mentioned, death match FPS will never be the same.

    --
    The bitter lessons of a veteran coder: http://bitterprogrammer.blogspot.com
  64. Old, very old news... by dark-br · · Score: 1

    Paralyzed man controls computer via brain implant

    October 26, 1998 8:05 AM PT
    By Reuters

    ATLANTA -- A paralyzed Georgia man who received a tiny brain implant has become the first human to control a computer using only his thoughts...

    Here if you wanna read the rest of it...

  65. Re:Stephen Hawking (be careful what you wish for) by NewbieV · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ken: You've *ruined*... You...

    Buffy: Hey, Ken, wanna see my impression of Gandhi?

    (crushes his skull with a club)

    Lily: Gandhi?

    Buffy: Well, you know, if he was really pissed off.

    ...shamelessly lifted from the Buffyverse Dialog Database

    --


    "For every right, an equal responsibility..."
  66. Better think about this by AndroidCat · · Score: 1
    At a local mall, there's a lot of retirement places around it. On seniors' day, they're all over the mall in strike wings of those damned fast motor scooters.

    This development will allow them to mount large powerful robotic arms on these platforms.

    --
    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  67. Quake Master by SheldonYoung · · Score: 1

    I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004.

    Even without control of his legs he would kick your ass.

    He has a PhD in pain and a Masters in diaster, the mighty Stephen Hawking is a Quake Master.

  68. No way I'm playing Stephen Hawking by winkydink · · Score: 1
    I, for one, look forward to playing Stephen Hawking in Unreal Tournament 2004.

    Not me, he'd probably start using time-space continuum cheats. :)

    --

    "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

  69. Play video games? by blanks · · Score: 1

    Wait one minute. You're telling me. That if I "happen" go get paralyzed I can sit in a bed the rest of my life, be cleaned by someone else, free room and board, crap yourself, and have no worries.

    And play video games?

    Sounds pretty tempting.

  70. Re:HELLO?!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that I crave Jessica Lynch slash fiction to whack it to when I sneak into the manegement washroom! (Could you also work in the amnesia/brainwashing angle? thx)

  71. They are by Dax_is_a_geek · · Score: 0

    Most people are already familiar with MChawking, as that link has been posted on /. before. Its just sill funny.

  72. Hypothetical by El · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So, if your thought-controlled cybernetic arm pinches your coworkers butt, are you still guilty of sexual harrassment? "But, your honor, I was only thinking about doing that!" Sounds like a whole new legal can of worms with regards to people being responsible for their actions...

    --

    "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

    1. Re:Hypothetical by Junta · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I would think it would take training to get the thing to work the way you want it, I imagine accidently making a robotic arm do something as complex as that is at least as unlikely as accidently doing it with a natural arm.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    2. Re:Hypothetical by Omerna · · Score: 1

      I don't really know anything about how it works, BUT I don't think that could happen. THINKING about pinching a coworker's butt and PINCHING a coworker's butt are going to involve different parts of the brain (one for thought, one for moving your arm) so thinking about doing something would make your arm move, you'd have to *move* your arm.

      --


      No sig for you.
  73. ObBuckaroo by LouisvilleDebugger · · Score: 1

    "Dr. Banzai is using a laser to vaporize a pineal tumor without damaging the parthogenital plate. A subcutaneous microphone will allow the patient to transmit verbal instructions to his own brain."

    "Like, 'raise my left arm'?

    "Or 'throw the harpoon.' People are gonna come from all over. This boy's an Eskimo."

    -- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension

  74. It must be said... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Imagine a beowolf cluster of these things!

  75. Ctrl stuff by mobby_6kl · · Score: 0

    I've read some Mechwarrior books, and there is some kind of technology that allows ppl to pilot the mechs directly by the brain, so this looks very interesting to me.

  76. Abraham Lincoln by zoloto · · Score: 1

    Tall guy, long reach.

  77. Expect to be modded Offtopic for one by PReDiToR · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    And lose Karma for it.

    --

    Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
  78. Jessica Lynch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I agree.

    I crave for her too.

    Actually, I don't know if I would want an amnesia/brainwashing story, though. Getting ass-raped by a bunch of guys could be her secret fantasy that she never dared to reveal to her hubby but which she finally fulfilled in the hot desert of Iraq.

    You could make it a double-whammy. First the Iraqis and then the "rescue" mission special ops guys.

  79. controlling a robotic arm? by Jack+Schitt · · Score: 2, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new quadriplegic-cybernetic overlords.

    --
    This message brought to you by Jack Schitt's Previously Shat Shit
  80. Well, maybe it's just one step closer to... by cmdrwhitewolf · · Score: 1

    creating the BORG.

    I always *did* wonder who would originally create them, now I know, it'll probably be us!

    Think about it for a moment;
    First it's to give the disabled mobility,
    then it's to cybernetically 'enhance' the already able, next it's to motivate the chronically lazy and slothful. Then shortly thereafter it's made for the braindead mass media consumers...

    And finally, one faithful day, a slipup in the Microsoft update system accidently infects everyone with their corporate monopoly takeover program. Then *ZOT* we've got BORG.

    --
    [Now, I'm off to lift my le... Um, visit... at another place.]
  81. yea, yea by RedA$$edMonkey · · Score: 1

    Cybernetic brain implants are all fun an games until someone puts out another sequel that totally sucks and doesn't answer any questions to the first 2 movies.

  82. The zoo of the future... by Volatile_Memory · · Score: 1

    Monkeys leisurely using their hands to peel and eat bananas while using their brain-controlled robotic arms to pleasure themselves. An new twist on an old zoo favorite!

    --

    /**
    I have a "Zero Policy" tolerance.
    */

  83. Oh I just see the next Sobig Virus results... by cmdrwhitewolf · · Score: 1

    With an Inquirer headline that one day reads -
    "New virus danger: wife's body peircings and explosive expansion results in the death of spouse."

    --
    [Now, I'm off to lift my le... Um, visit... at another place.]
  84. If Oracle is involved... by rock_climbing_guy · · Score: 1

    You've got Oracle's projected role totally wrong. Oracle will need to design a database to keep track of all of SCO's ridiculous IP claims.

    --
    Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
  85. wow by 56ksucks · · Score: 1
    All those people who had their heads frozen after they died can be brought back with robot bodies now!


    ----

    --

    ---- "Excuse me. Where's the children's gun section?"

  86. WOW! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cybernetic implants? Wow! Imagine a beowulf cluster of those!

  87. Stephen Hawking would blow you out of the water... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But of course he'd do it using terms of theoretical physics that I can't go into right now, so I'll just leave it at a level for the masses to understand...

    In short...all your energy is belong to him...

  88. cant wait for the next step.. by Suppafly · · Score: 1

    I can't wait for the next step after they get these approved to help the crippled, when they allow anyone with a few bucks to get these implants.

  89. No, I'm really I'm Really Here! by I'm+New+Here · · Score: 1

    No, I'm really I'm Really Here!

  90. Rocket whore!!! by Dareth · · Score: 1

    No disrespect, but they guy is a genius physicist. The man must know his projectiles!!

    --

    I only look human.
    My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
  91. whew! A reason to live! by hemna · · Score: 1

    Guess we can all let out a sigh of relief. We can still browse pron when we all get paralyzed.

  92. I've seen worse. Much worse. by GuyMannDude · · Score: 1

    The winner plays Captain Christopher Pike.

    (I'm such a geek. *sigh*)

    You ever see the film "Trekkies"? There's an uber-geek in that film who has built his own Christopher Pike wheelchair and then, I kid you not, goes riding in it around town! The scene where he goes to Radio Shack to pick up some new parts for it is hilarious! If you haven't seen this flick, rent it tonight! You'll never make the mistake of calling yourself a geek again after you see the people in this movie!

    GMD

  93. WHAT THE FUCK?! by greymond · · Score: 1

    Their gonna plug my brain into the Matrix... NOooooo!

    1. Re:WHAT THE FUCK?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LoL. Maybe they will put your mind in Autobot X too?

  94. For those who have arthritis from consoles by Awptimus+Prime · · Score: 1

    "implanted into the brains of paralyzed people, will help them control a cursor on a screen or play video games."

    I'll need one of these after my Xbox controllers have finally rendered my hands useless.

  95. original research article link ... by scientistguy · · Score: 1

    The study by researchers at Duke in which monkeys with brain implants were able to articulate use of a robotic arm through their thoughts was recently published here (link to PDF download is in the right hand column) in the Public Library of Science. It's pretty amazing work. Wireless control, i.e. Bluetooth implants, are on the horizon. I think the really significant implication of going wireless is that this potentially allows for some sort of communication between individuals who possess the wireless implants. The hard part was whether the neuronal/electrical implant interface would work (i.e. whether a brain could send a signal to manipulate a robotic device). The question to consider is if this goes wireless, will electronically aided telepathy between wireless enabled individuals be far behind?

    1. Re:original research article link ... by falconed · · Score: 1
      This is really incredible stuff. I think I mentioned in another post that the next logical step seems to be enabling the other direction of communication; allowing the device to stimulate the brain. In the context of moving a cursor on a screen, the device would project the image displayed on screen directly onto the user's brain. Once this is possible, it seems like electronically aided telepathy would be trivial.

      Put telepathy and robot control together and we'll be able to control armies of robots by thought. Who needs AI when you've (arguably) got the real thing?

      This might be a little out in left field, but as our technology leverages biology more and more for its implementation (nano tech, DNA computing etc) maybe down the road we'll be able to engineer humans to be born with telepathic abilities instead of implanting them later. Similar to breeding dogs to have certain physical and mental characteristics, except with a little more help from the science lab. All I can picture right now is the stereotypical alien with an enlarged head and unproportionally small body. Is that what we're evolving toward?

      --
      USE='clever' emerge -u sig
  96. Real Life Superman a reality by SouthOfHeaven · · Score: 1

    So superman will finally be SUPER, wow thats a cool idea, this very much resembles the Futurama episode where Nixon's head goes on a rampage in a huge robotic body.

  97. I like Hawking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But I really like my vegetables grown hydroponically.

  98. Help ME by DecimalThree · · Score: 0

    I've rebooted and I can't get up.

  99. Looks like The Onion was right after all by evilroot · · Score: 1

    You know, this is almost a tad disturbing:

    Steven Hawking Builds Robotic Exoskeleton:
    http://www.theonion.com/onion3123/ha wkingexo.html

    I still remember laughing my head off at that article years ago, but maybe its not so unrealistic any more? Usually I'd feel bad about Slashdotting The Onion, but they haven't been funny is years anyways.

  100. Transhumanism is like libertarianism... by Thinkit3 · · Score: 2

    It's like people deny that it exists. Why must the first thought be making the disable "normal" instead of making people beyond "normal"?

    --
    -Libertarian secular transhumanist
  101. Re:Serious predictions...mmmmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    paralyzed teens masturbate for the first time ever! Watch this hottie use her atrophied stump to get herself off!

  102. OLD NEWS: Another group has already done it by mcleland · · Score: 1
    A group of folks from Emory and Georgia Tech have already done this for a few patients who have little or no other means to communicate. I saw a talk run by the GVU center here at Georgia Tech a few years ago about their successful trials with two patients.

    Here's an old press release from Emory. Note the date.

  103. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Computer controled breast implants!

    (2001 theme music)

  104. Spinal Memory by bigattichouse · · Score: 1

    *BUT* trained nerve impulses are a one-way trip. Martial arts works because you have trained your spine to respond to commands (Eye sees punch and issues info, spine handles reaction). That is why there is so little conscious thought involved in mastery-level physical movement (and I would suspect even coding). I imagine that someone using such an implant would be MUCH faster that expected after a period of training... Usually your reaction time is slowed because you don't normally do the action (hit the buzzer when I flash a light), if you did it 8 hours/day for a year, you'd train your spine to do the action for you. The signal from your eye would literally trigger the movement, you might not even realize you were doing it. Give it 10 years in general use (work out the bugs and improve efficiency), and I'd be happy to have a set of "trodes" installed.

    --
    meh
  105. I prefer to use the Skarjj Hybrid by unassimilatible · · Score: 1

    In a wheelchair...

    --
    Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
  106. Ijiro-san by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Angelic layer anyone?

  107. etc by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 1

    I for one welcome out new brain overl... um, no.

    Just imagine a beowulf clus.. rats.

    In soviet russia, your brain controls y.. er, damn.

    None of these work with this topic! :(

    --
    This space available.
  108. Science taunts by Chemisor · · Score: 1

    "Am I intruding on your Schwartzchild radius?"
    "I'll show you some redshift..."
    "You are so slow, you couldn't orbit a rock."
    "Kiss your simply-connected days goodbye!"