The first patient to receive a brain chip implant from Neuralink was seen playing chess on a 9-minute live video stream posted on X
29-year-old Noland Arbaugh (who is paralyzed below the shoulders) shared his experience with the surgery and talked about how grateful he is to be a part of this study
After announcing last month that Neuralink’s first brain chip patient can control a mouse with his thoughts, Elon Musk has shared another amazing update showing said patient using the same implant to play chess on a computer.
The patient has been identified as Noland Arbaugh who was paralyzed from the shoulder down in a freak diving accident. Then in January, he became the first patient ever to receive the brain chip implant from Elon Musk-run Neuralink.
And now, a 9-minute live video was streamed showing Arbaugh controlling the cursor without moving his hands and using it to play chess.
I would attempt to move, say, my right hand, left, right, forward, back, and from there I think it just became intuitive for me to start imagining the cursor moving.Noland Arbaugh
The best part of this surgery so far is that he can play Civilization VI again – a game he had to give up after the accident. He was very pleased to get back his ability to play games he used to play for 8 hours straight.
Arbaugh also revealed that the surgery was quite simple. He was released from the hospital within a day and has suffered no cognitive impairments so far.
At the same time, he was also very honest in talking about his experience. He revealed that despite all the benefits he reaped from the chip, there are some flaws that they need to work on. However, he didn’t reveal the details of these shortcomings.
In the end, he also mentioned how grateful he was to be a part of this study and being able to do all these “cool stuff”.
What Exactly Is This Brain Chip?
The brain chip is a tiny device (the size of a 1-pound coin) that’s inserted into a person’s skull. Once inside, it can read neuron activity and transmit a wireless signal to a receiver.
After testing the product on monkeys & pigs, they finally got approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2023.
The ultimate goal of the company is to improve the lives of all quadriplegic patients by helping them resume life.
From what Musk has described and what we have already seen, they are trying to replicate what Stephen Hawking had but making it more efficient and accessible.
Musk has been extremely secretive about this project.
We don’t know much except for the major updates he shares once in a while. However, their next goal is to get as many clicks as possible from the user.
But considering Arbaugh is already playing video games, it’s safe to assume that this goal has been accomplished.
Brain chips are the talk of the town in the tech world. Millions of dollars have already been invested in projects worldwide.
While many have regarded Neuralink’s major milestone, some experts have pointed out that it’s just the beginning.
For example, Kip Ludwig, former program director for neural engineering at the US National Institutes of Health, said that it’s only been a couple of weeks since the chip was implanted.
Both the subject and the company will have a lot to learn in the coming few months. Nevertheless, he commended the achievement.
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