Yesterday, Aman, who was fitted with a Neuralink brain implant, took part in a broadcast on X (previously known as Twitter), where he played chess online.
In May 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) controversially approved Neuralink’s gadget for human testing, following studies in monkeys and a pig named Gertrude. The business stated in January 2024 that it had implanted a chip in a human individual for the first time.
Toward the end of February 2024, Neuralink founder Elon Musk provided an update on the company’s human trial of their brain implant device, claiming that the recipient could now use the device to move a cursor on a screen with his mind.
“Progress is good, and the patient appears to have made a full recovery, with neural effects that we are aware of,” Elon Musk stated in an update, according to Reuters. “Patient can move a mouse around the screen by just thinking,”
In a live demonstration of the device on Wednesday, the receiver, now identified as 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, demonstrated his ability to move the cursor with apparent ease while playing chess.
“I enjoy playing chess, and this is one of the things you have helped me to accomplish. During the webcast, Arbaugh revealed that he hadn’t been able to accomplish much in the last few years, especially not like this. “I had to use my mouth [device], but now it’s all being done with my brain.”
Arbaugh, who was paralyzed below the shoulders in a vehicle accident, stated that the surgery was effective and that after some practice with the device, he was able to use it to operate a cursor on the screen, even playing the computer game Civilization VI.
“We began by trying a few different things. We went from […] to discriminating between imagined and attempted movements. So much of what we started with was an attempt to move. “I would try to move my right hand left, right, forward, and back,” he remarked during the presentation. “And from there, it became natural for me to imagine the cursor moving. It was similar to employing the Force on a cursor. I could make it move wherever I wanted by staring at a certain point on the screen, which was an incredible sensation.”
He couldn’t play games on his own and had to rely on friends and relatives to control whatever gadget he chose to utilize. He can now play games to his heart’s content while the Neuralink device is charged. “And I’m kicking ass,” he explained.
The gadget and other brain-computer interfaces are promising, with the potential to improve the lives of those who are paralyzed. However, this is only the first human trial for Neuralink’s gadget, and there remains a long road ahead.
“It isn’t perfect.” I would say that we have encountered some difficulties,” stated Arbaugh. “I don’t want people to believe that this is the end of the road; there is still much work to be done. But it’s already changed my life.
