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A Better Thought-Controlled Computer Cursor
An anonymous reader writes "Stanford researchers have developed a new algorithm (Abstract only) that significantly improves the control and performance of neural prosthetics — brain-controlled computer interfaces for individuals suffering from spinal cord injury and neurodegenerative disease to aid interaction with computers, drive electronic wheelchairs, and control robotic arms and legs. With this algorithm, monkeys implanted with multielectrode arrays in motor regions of their brain controlled a computer cursor more quickly and accurately than ever before, including navigation around obstacles. Further, the system maintained this high performance across 4 years, demonstrating long-term reliability. These improvements in performance and robustness are crucial for clinically-useful neural prosthetics, and pave the way for success in clinical trails."
Does he have a db25 plug on his head?
It's probably wireless and I'm also guessing the test device was probably a Blue monkey over Bluetooth.
two monkeys over 4 years.
Yea I want a larger testing samples and longer time frame for my brain implants.
I do not want to have to upgrade my implant every 20 years let alone 5
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Consider just how far we've come since 1992, by 2034 we'd be edging very close to nanobot level technology and our understanding of neuroscience can't be overstated enough judging by the last decade of progress. With this kind of early cross over between tech and medicine it's unavoidable to think you could do without a single upgrade.
The only nueroprosthetics that comes to mind where this might not be the case are cochlear implants.
two monkeys over 4 years.
Yea I want a larger testing samples and longer time frame for my brain implants.
I do not want to have to upgrade my implant every 20 years let alone 5
There is a problem with this. You don't want to wait 20 years if the technology is available now and you really need it (as in quadriplegic). So you will have to settle with two or three years in animal tests and with tissue samples showing no measurable damage to the brain tissue.
Worst of cases, if you are quadriplegic and using this technology, probably the independence gained with it would be worth one operation every five years.
When his defense asked, "Which computer has Jon Johansen trespassed upon?" the answer was: "His own."
i swear i read an article in discover magazine (i know, a magazine, it was that long ago) about some researcher that had hooked up electrodes to a patient and taught them how to control a mouse cursor, and later and electric wheelchair with their mind. it became and autonomic function, just like moving your arm (i hate the term "thought controlled", you dont really "think" about moving, its subconscious function) and it was done using a basic EEG(?). am i imagining this, or does anyone else remember this as well? its quite possible that this is a completely incorrect memory thought, i was a kid at the time and i read a lot of sci-fi, so its very possible my memories of real-sci have mixed with my memories of sci-fi
Stephen Hawking is probably jumping up and down for joy now.
Errr, wait....
30 years ago you didn't need an implant, you just had to think in Russian:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5DsLow4SVQ#t=1m21s
We haven't actually come very far.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain%E2%80%93computer_interface#Prominent_research_successes
If it takes 10-20 years to get this improvement it's not what I call rapid progress.
In 1947 Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. 1953 first supersonic fighters (USSR and USA). In 1961 Yuri Gagarin orbited the planet. In 1969 the USA landed people on the moon AND got them back safely. In 1969 we got Concorde and the 747 jumbo jet. That's rapid progress.
With the current rate of BCI progress most of us will be either dead or too old by the time practical and safe ones hit the market.
FWIW we don't seem to be making that much progress on the aerospace front either - where are those prototype space stations with artificial gravity?
Maybe all the geniuses in the current generations are busy making iphone apps or legally swindling people in finance.
We haven't actually come very far. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain%E2%80%93computer_interface#Prominent_research_successes
If it takes 10-20 years to get this improvement it's not what I call rapid progress.
In 1947 Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. 1953 first supersonic fighters (USSR and USA). In 1961 Yuri Gagarin orbited the planet. In 1969 the USA landed people on the moon AND got them back safely. In 1969 we got Concorde and the 747 jumbo jet. That's rapid progress.
And to continue your analogy, that rapid progress in transportation technology is what allowed us to fulfill everyone's dream of flying cars and Moon vacations by the year 2000. Right?
It's also what made space transportation so very "practical and safe", as exemplified by Challenger and Columbia.
Some technologies progress by slow, incremental refinement. Some progress by leaps and bounds. Some progress by one-off stunts, done once (or a few times) and then not repeated for decades.
I don't pretend to understand all the factors that determine these paths. But I'm pretty sure that our heedless, exponential advances in computation (and "iPhone apps") have a lot to do with the fiery explosions and mass casualties we don't get when a new game turns out to have a flaw. You can push harder when the risk is lower.
For medical technology, lives are very much at risk, and so we take the slow, carefully-policed path. It's frustrating for those of us who await the final product, but how many people are you willing to maim or kill in order to speed things up?
It's also what made space transportation so very "practical and safe", as exemplified by Challenger and Columbia.
On the other hand - if you look at fatalities per mile traveled - space travel is the safest mode of travel there is.
What? Airlines use that math all the time, so it *must* be valid!