The first human to receive Neuralink’s brain implant says it’s changed his life for the better, allowing him to use a computer simply with his mind. In a live stream on Wednesday, Neuralink introduced 29-year-old Nolan Arbaugh, a quadriplegic who agreed to receive the brain chip back in January. He’s since been using the implant to remotely control a mouse cursor on his computer. Arbaugh said he lost the ability to use his limbs after a “freak diving accident” about eight years ago. “So I’m paralyzed from below the shoulders,” he said while sitting in a wheelchair. “I have no sensation or movement below my injury.”
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As a result, it can be a struggle for him to use a computer, even with today’s accessibility controllers. But during the live stream, Arbaugh showed that he can now tap Neuralink’s implant to play a game of chess on his laptop. The implant works by reading the brain signals from the user and translating them into Bluetooth-based remote commands to control an electronic device, like a mouse cursor. For Arbaugh, this initially involved trying to move his hands, even though he’s lost the ability to use them.“From there, it just became intuitive for me to start imagining the cursor moving. Basically, it was like using the Force on a cursor and I could get it to move wherever I wanted,” he explained, referencing Star Wars. “It’s crazy. It really is. It’s so cool. I’m so freaking lucky to be a part of this,” he added during the nine-minute live stream. “Everyday, it seems like we’re learning new stuff.”Thanks to the implant, he’s also been able to play the PC game Civilization VI, outside of the Neuralink research sessions. This recently resulted in eight-hour gaming session until his implant needed to be recharged wirelessly.
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“It was awesome. I had basically given up on playing that game,” he said, citing the physical toll when trying to play the strategy title before the implant. “I have to worry about a lot of things, like getting pressure sores. Things like that…Now I can just literally lie in my bed, and play to my heart’s content.”His surgery to receive the implant also went smoothly, only requiring one day of hospitalization. That said, Arbaugh said the implant hasn’t been perfect. “We have run into some issues. I don’t want people to think this is the end of the journey. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but it has already changed my life,” he said. Neuralink held the live stream as the company continues to recruit human patients to participate in the trials for the implant.
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