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Brain Interface Lets Monkeys Control Prosthetic Limbs

Posted by timothy on from the what-did-you-do-at-the-lab-today-bonzo dept.

himicos was one of many readers to point out one recent success of scientists working to develop working brain-machine interfaces, writing "A team at the university of Pittsburgh has finally advanced a 2002 technology enough for use in prosthetic limbs, the targeted application all along. Training computer models to the firing patterns of the neurons in the parts of the brain that control motion, they are able to project the intentions of a monkey to a robotic arm, which follows the will of the animal. The sad thing about the articles is that the beauty of the mathematics used to create and train the models is totally ignored." Reader phpmysqldev adds a link to coverage at the BBC, and writes "This of course brings significant hope to amputees and other other people with physical disabilities." (Note that this research has been going on for quite some time.)

3 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. PITA! by AltGrendel · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    This is the kind of research they want to stop.

    --
    The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination

    - Douglas Adams

  2. Re:And just like that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Written like the true sociopath that you are...

    Again, I repeat my simple question, for all you sociopaths:

    Perhaps you should ask yourselves - "Why am I incapable of feeling the suffering of others, and why is that not a problem?"

    What's it like, not FEELING, and having to PRETEND to be 'nice' when trying to be 'friends' with your 'friends'? Do you think they fall for it? No doubt they are sociopaths too, and are pulling the same pathetic act on you... How very sad...

  3. Re:And just like that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I see you can't actually address the fundamental point I made:

    "Perhaps you should ask yourselves - "Why am I incapable of feeling the suffering of others, and why is that not a problem?""

    Any answers? What's it like, being incapable of feeling the suffering of others? Don't you get tired, having to PRETEND to be a normal human being? You know the sort of thing - showing 'concern' when somebody else is hurt, even though you can't actually imagine that they are feeling anything, because, after all, only YOU matter, right?

    Here's another nice question for you: when did you CHOOSE to be born a human, rather than a monkey? How would you stop yourself from being born a monkey? Since you didn't CHOOSE to be born human (nor choose to be born at all), why do you identify with only humans, when you could just as easily have been born a monkey, and therefore have been put through the hell the monkey in the video has been through? (I know, you have no comprehension of the suffering of others, being a sociopath, so that last line was completely lost on you...)

    So you don't think that animal 'research' is touted as the CURE for all our ills by the fraudsters who practice it? By the drug cartels who use it to 'test' their drugs before they TEST them on humans?

    Did you read up on HIV and AIDS yet? Of course not - the TV didn't tell you to...