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Paralyzed Individuals Operate Tablet With Brain Implant (ieee.org)
Last year, a study from the BrainGate consortium reported that a brain-computer interface (BCI) enabled a paralyzed man to type up to eight words per minute via thoughts alone. Now, according to new results from a BrainGate2 clinical trial, the same BCI was used to help three participants operate an off-the-shelf tablet. IEEE Spectrum reports: All three participants suffer from weakness or loss of movement in their arms due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease) or spinal cord injury. Each received the brain implant, an array of microelectrodes, as part of the BrainGate2 clinical trial. For this particular study, decoded neural signals from the implant were routed through an industry-standard Human Interface Device protocol, providing a virtual mouse. That "mouse" was paired to a Google Nexus 9 tablet via Bluetooth.
Each participant was asked to try out seven common apps on the tablet: email, chat, web browser, video sharing, music streaming, a weather program and a news aggregator. The researchers also asked the users if they wanted any additional apps, and subsequently added the keyboard app, grocery shopping on Amazon, and a calculator. The participants made up to 22 point-and-click selections per minute and typed up to 30 characters per minute in email and text programs. What's more, all three participants really enjoyed using the tablet.
Each participant was asked to try out seven common apps on the tablet: email, chat, web browser, video sharing, music streaming, a weather program and a news aggregator. The researchers also asked the users if they wanted any additional apps, and subsequently added the keyboard app, grocery shopping on Amazon, and a calculator. The participants made up to 22 point-and-click selections per minute and typed up to 30 characters per minute in email and text programs. What's more, all three participants really enjoyed using the tablet.
That sounds very interesting. If the accuracy and speed of "mental control over object in two dimensional space" gets high enough and doesn't interfere with normal motor control in healthy people, I can see this becoming standard for pretty much anyone that needs to use complex machinery of any kind.
Is our world so broken that all we can do is think in terms of mouse movements and keyboard apps?
If you can control a mouse, you can train your brain to produce binary coded character streams. Yes, it will take some training. Not unlike learning how to touch type. But imagine how powerful a brain interface could be if you could think text instead of the painfully slow process of moving a mouse from button to button.
It's already hard enough to get an employer's to match the workload to what they're willing to pay. Things like this or just going to encourage additional cheating of workers the true value of their work. My my the way we cheat countless future Generations in order to take shortcuts today
Would've :(
[($)]
That's great. Now I want them to be able operate a http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/P-5000_Powered_Work_Loader, so they can move around and send those aliens back where they came from.
Heh, you've been duped. That is not a normal user post or I don't know shit about anything.
I was looking at a similar post recently with similar use of bold and caps that was complaining about right wing posters while specifically talking about their own physique although in that case they went on to discuss their calf implants.
Pro tip: Any time you see such a mess of formatting in a post it's not the work of a normal user. Are they crazy? Are they propagandists? Who knows. They certainly arent worth anyone's time though.
I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
It's sad what political correctness is doing to the English language. We used to have a perfectly good words for "participants with tetraplegia" or "persons living with visual disability".
Well, based on your sample of one, I guess your brain is certainly damaged.
Someone should set up a go-fund-me to get more tablets. Maybe those people who helped that homeless guy -- they have a proven track record.
Why yes. Give your ditch digger a backhoe, and that just enables you to exploit him for more work.
If you’re going to be a socialite, at least don’t be a Luddite socialist. That just assures that your ideas will never be tried out in a real country.
I know,. The engineer in me screams when you see people throwing energy into increasing their already unhealthy dependency on external validation and attention, to the extremeof generating unpleasant emotional states about it. why would you actively practice structuring your thought processes in such a way that gives everybody else power over you? That's just shoddy workmanship. Counterproductive perceptual engineering
You missed my point entirely. There is quite likely not a bit of honest anything in that post. The likely purpose of that post is to rile people up. While bashing regularly posting right wing types from slashdot's forums that poster has made themselves out to be the arch-type of the pathetic Leftist the more ignorant members of the Right want the Left to be. It insults idiot members of the Right while validating their world view.
Basically, this post's point is likely to make people argue more. I don't know that for a fact but I find it to be the most likely reason as I find it unlikely that a person, as depicted there, actually exists and is also a regular slashdot user.
I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.