Anybody catch this story today? Is this a little eerie to anyone? Very cool for those who might be able to use it.
Last May, John Donoghue and his colleagues at Cyberkinetics in Foxboro, Mass., became the second team to implant neural electrodes in people. The company’s BrainGate system uses multiple-needle electrodes connected directly to a computer. Within 2 months, a 25-year-old quadriplegic hooked up to BrainGate could use the system to open e-mail, change television channels, switch lights on and off, and operate a robotic arm.
Although the patient lost the use of his arms 3 years ago, the brain areas controlling his hands and arms still function normally. “When we asked to imagine moving his hands around in space, the cursor moved. He was able to do the kinds of point-and-click actions that someone would do with a mouse, but we bypassed his hand and went straight to the computer,” says Donoghue. Cyberkinetics plans to market the BrainGate system by 2007.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4533546
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050129/bob8.asp