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Matrix-Style Brain Interface Closer To Reality

Posted by timothy on from the be-your-own-neo dept.

atkulp writes "According to this Wired article, a private company, Cyberkinetics is seeking permission from the FDA to test a product called BrainGate that implants in the brain and can control actions on a computer. So far it works for monkeys and they'd like to see it as viable for quadriplegics and others in need. How soon until anyone can become the ultimate expansion card? Sign me up!"

4 of 567 comments (clear)

  1. Nice, they've got Matlab routines... by tcopeland · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...for processing the data from the microelectrode arrays.

    Yes, the above link goes to another web site called "bionictech.com", but the two companies merged in 2002.

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  2. Re:Gateway to wetware? by Soul+Brother+#1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I wonder if this would work backwards? Is this the gateway to using the human brain as a computer? (After all, we only use a portion of it...)

    No, we don't.

    http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm

    -W
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  3. Another article on the same topic at PopSci by H0NGK0NGPH00EY · · Score: 3, Informative

    This was the cover story of the Popular Science that I just received in the mail. You can read the article here.

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  4. Re:I'll pass by nodwick · · Score: 4, Informative
    People who are eager for this sort of thing puzzle me. Maybe I'm a little paranoid, but I'd like to stay as far away from this as possible. I don't say this to be a luddite, but there are definite limits to where I would personally go with technology.
    I think you're mistaking the application for this. Dozens of Slashdot posts about the Matrix notwithstanding, this isn't an elective surgery targeted towards geeks who want to get one step closer to their machines. The company line is that it's aimed primarily at quadriplegics who have a choice of either continuing to be unable to interact with their environment or having a shot at gaining some more function.

    In spirit, it's similar to prosthetic devices that people have already been developing that operate using nerve impulses, such as prosthetic legs with knees that "bend" via sensors which pick up nerve impulses in the quadriceps. It's just that with people who are more severely disabled, you're going to have to move closer to the brain to pick up live nerve impulses. It'll probably be a long time (if ever) before this moves into being an elective procedure for entertainment purposes; the Matrix-speak from the Wired article seems to be just typical media sensationalization to give the story a little more juice.