Elon Musk's Neuralink Chip N1, Helps a Patient Play Video Games with Thoughts.

 

 

A Patient with Neuralink Brain Chip played online Chess on a laptop with his thoughts for the first time.  

 

Telepathy, the futuristic Neuralink Cybernetic Chip developed by Elon Musk's research team is aimed at enabling paralysed people to control their computer keyboard and cursor with their thoughts. 

The Neuralink Corp. installed their first cybernetic implant in a patient's brain. With that done, he was able to manoeuvre the cursor on his laptop screen.

On a Twitter livestream, now called X, patient named Noland Arbaugh, without the physical tools, moved the cursor on the screen. With his mind control, thanks to Neuralink Chip, he was able to play a game of chess.

 

He even referenced Star Wars by saying, "It was like using the force". Surely it must have felt Science Fiction to him. 

The cursor movements became very intuitive for him very quickly and the cursor would move where he wanted it to. He even branded it as " a Wild Experience". 

His disability occurred eight years ago after a horrific Diving Accident. His fondness for playing chess had been impossible to experience in the past years. Now his brain power is simulating changes on the laptop screen with moving cursors and clicking icons.

In 2021, Elon Musk had said in an Interview,

 "The first thing that we're going after is a wireless implanted chip that would enable someone who is a … tetraplegic or quadriplegic to control a computer, or mouse, or their phone, or really any device … just by thinking. This obviously would be a massive enabler, make life way easier for them. I'd say it's like a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires that go to your brain,”

Noland Arbaugh 

A former athlete and student at Texas A&M university, Noland is from Arizona. In 2017, internet saw Noland on GofundMe, a crowd sourcing platform, where a campaign had been set out to assist him in acquiring a van for Handicapped people. 

Watch: Patient playing chess with his thoughts with N1 chip in his head. 

After the accident, he became senseless in all of the limbs. Before becoming quadriplegic, he was working as a student counsellor for children. 

In the live stream that introduced us to the first realistic fruition of Neuralink Cybernetic chip implantation, Noland iterated the following, "I'm paralysed from below the shoulders. I have no sensation or movement below my level of injury, so below my shoulders," 

Noland had practically given up on Gaming ever again. Neuralink brought a new life to his Gaming endeavour.

 

"Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal," Musk stated. 

Installed by a very smart robot, Neuralink chip - N1 access the parts of the brain which deals with motion by reading brain signals and transmitting to a software on the computer which translates it and use it as input for the computer. 

Ultimately Neuralink aims to enable users to control their tech and gadgets through their brain signals. N1 chip is a coin sized encapsulation. Inside of which, there are multiple chips and a battery for power. 

Threads emerging out of the chip goes into the brain and record brain signals. Data transmission from the human brain to the computer will be carried out through Bluetooth. 

A brilliant Start to Brain-Computer Interface indeed!

Eventually patients will be able to control their robotic limbs and prosthetics. A lot of speculations and hopes are associated with this merger of humans and machines are floating on the web.

Right now the technology is still in its infancy and Neuralink Corp. aims to enable vision impaired people to see again with Neuralink Cybernetic chips in the future. It will also aid disable/handicapped people to achieve ambulatory abilities.