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Wheelchair Controlled by Thought
macduffman writes "New Scientist reports on another development in interfacing with the central nervous system. The system 'eavesdrops' on signals sent from the brain to the larynx, so even people who lack the muscular control to vocalize a command can operate it. The potential applications of this technology are as varied as human imagination, among them: allowing a person who has lost speech capability to vocalize again." From the article:"The wheelchair could help people with spinal injuries, or neurological problems like cerebral palsy or motor neurone disease, operate computers and other equipment despite serious problems with muscle control. The system will work providing a person can still control their larynx, or 'voice box,' which may be the case even if the lack the muscle coordination necessary to produce coherent speech."
...but I'm more down to play a real next-gen gaming system ;)
I'll be in the cyberspace lobby.
"Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies." -Thomas Jefferson
If it's eavesdropping on the signals sent to your larynx, does that mean that you can't talk and drive at the same time?
Does it mean that saying "I left my keys at home" while driving on the sidewalk is going to send you hurtling into traffic?
You are awash in a sea of fiercely stated opinions. Obvious exits are: 'File->Quit', 'Reply', and 'Page Down'.
We've had those at the academy forever! I don't know where Prof. Xavier got his, but he's always zooming around the hallways, honking and yelling at us "whippersnappers" to get out of the way.
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
Steven Hawking is getting for xmas...
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
You have to think in Russian!
Sig cannot be found.
I was flipping bits on an abacus, newb.
I always wonder whether embedding a glucose powered computer of some description into a new-born baby's brain would give them super math ability.. if you can fit a wireless connection in there too, that'd be nice.
I guess there's no ethical way to do it though.
How we know is more important than what we know.
He wants his chair back, and no - you can't ask the Talosians for another look at the Vina reconstruction.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
I see that Daleks are more feasible now... Someone call The Doctor!!
Now if they would build that automatic spring puncher thing and the rotor blades like they had for Hawkings in the Simpsons...
The Nintendo Wiilchair?
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
Man, if I end up on such a wheelchair, I sure hope my larynx is fucked up too. Because otherwise it sounds like an orangutan on a wheelchair. "Uh uh uuuuh uh uh uuuuh uuuuh uuuuh!" Throw in some chest thumping and people might try to appease me with bananas.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.