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."

Comments

My claim to fame

[mrtroy]

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, for one...

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:I, for one...

[canajin56]

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.

Re:I, for one...

[UserGoogol]

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.

Re:Stephen Hawking...

[ashkar]

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

Hawking

[DrEldarion]

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.

Re:Stephen Hawking...

[Bendebecker]

Nah, personally, I'd fight Ghandi.

Hawking can already kick your ass in Quake and GTA

[Rayonic]

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.

Re:What about me!?

[DzugZug]

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.

Serious predictions

[heironymouscoward]

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.

grudge match!

[Tumbleweed]

Hawking vs Davros! Oh yeah...

The winner plays Captain Christopher Pike.

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

Duke University

[falconed]

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.

Re:Animal Testing

[dowobeha]

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.