Elon Musk’s Neuralink showcased its first brain-chip patient after a successful implantation procedure playing online chess through a live stream on Wednesday.
Neuralink brain chip implantation demo. Image credit: Steve Jurvetson via Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Noland Arbaugh, a 29-year-old individual paralyzed below the shoulder due to a diving accident, utilized his mind to maneuver the cursor on his laptop via the Neuralink device. This innovative implant aims to empower individuals to manipulate a computer cursor or keyboard solely through their thoughts.
Arbaugh, who had received the Neuralink implant in January, was previously able to control a computer mouse with his thoughts, as disclosed by Musk last month.
In the streamed video on Musk’s social media platform X, Arbaugh expressed his satisfaction with the ease of the surgical procedure, stating, “The surgery was super easy. I literally was released from the hospital a day later. I have no cognitive impairments.”
Livestream of @Neuralink demonstrating “Telepathy” – controlling a computer and playing video games just by thinking https://t.co/0kHJdayfYy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 20, 2024
Reflecting on his newfound capability, Arbaugh remarked he has given up playing his favorite video game, Civilization VI, and that Neuralink gave him the ability to do that again, mentioning that he had played for 8 hours straight.
Kip Ludwig, a former program director for neural engineering at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, remarked that what Neuralink demonstrated was not a “breakthrough.” He elaborated, stating, “It is still in the very early days post-implantation, and there is a lot of learning on both the Neuralink side and the subject’s side to maximize the amount of information for control that can be achieved.”
Nonetheless, Ludwig recognized the positive impact on the patient, noting that interfacing with a computer in a manner previously unattainable was a significant development.
Written by Alius Noreika