A recent demonstration by Neuralink showcased Noland Arbaugh, a patient paralyzed below the shoulders, playing a game of chess solely through his thoughts. The company streamed a live demonstration of the possibly life-changing technology on Twitter to showoff real “telepathy.”
New Neuralink Demo Shows Paralyzed Patient Using Brain Implant To Play Games
On Wednesday, Elon Musk‘s brain-chip company Neuralink held a live session as its first implanted patient used his thoughts to play online chess. Noland Arbaugh, 29, talked about his experience with the Neuralink implant during the live demonstration.
Described as a gamer, Arbaugh was paralyzed from the neck down after a diving accident eight years ago. He said that being able to play video games again changed his life, likening the act of mentally moving the cursor to “using the Force” in the Star Wars universe.
Musk said last month that Arbaugh could operate a computer mouse with his thoughts after receiving an implant from the company in January. And reflecting on his surgical experience, Arbaugh said, “The surgery was super easy. I literally was released from the hospital a day later. I have no cognitive impairments.”
In addition to chess, the patient claimed that he used the Neuralink brain implant to play Civilization 6 for eight hours nonstop, and it was only when the batteries ran out that he stopped.
Arbaugh in the video stated, “I had pretty much given up playing that game [Civilization VI]. You all (Neuralink) gave me the ability to do that again and played for 8 hours straight.” Noland further says that the implant “has already changed my life”. The player, though, does admit that “there’s still a lot of work to be done,” as it appears that the team has “run into some issues.”
Well, Noland Arbaugh’s recent Neuralink brain implant test has showcased some excellent gaming performance and it might make games more accessible to a hitherto unexplored level. Furthermore, the technology should provide new opportunities for gamers who are paralyzed, which will probably make it a useful method of connecting with computers in general. But, it is to be noted that the long-term implications of these brain implants remain unknown.
Overall, the goal of the new Neuralink brain implant is much broader than just enabling occasional gaming sessions, and the success of gaming suggests that BCIs may find many real-world uses.
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