Back in January, Elon Musk announced that neurotech startup Neuralink has successfully implanted its brain-computer interface (BCI) chip in a person. More recently, the company has shown off said person, a quadriplegic after a freak diving accident, controlling a laptop through said implant.
Neuralink posted a live demonstration in question on X, previously Twitter, showing said patient, Nolan Arbaugh, using a laptop to play chess. He also says that the implant has allowed him to play Civilization VI for about eight hours before the implant needs to be recharged. The video does not show or explain the charging process though.
— Neuralink (@neuralink) March 20, 2024
Arbaugh also explains to some degree the way the process of registering thoughts into actions via the Neuralink implant. Following the implant surgery, the first steps involved attempting a movement, and registering brain signals involved with those attempts. Naturally, there’s a wireless receiver that takes the transmitted signals from the chip to whatever the receiver is plugged into.
It all looks pretty impressive, but considering it’s all still in the early stages, Arbaugh says that “it’s not perfect” and that there have been a few initial issues. Overall though, he says that it’s been a positive experience despite there being “a lot of work to be done”.
(Source: Neuralink / X)
