2024-08-23
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Alex, the second brain-computer interface recipient of Musk’s Neuralink, made a grand appearance!
After the brain-computer interface was implanted, his gaming skills skyrocketed.
Take his favorite first-person shooter game, Counter-Strike, which uses a ton of inputs, including two separate joysticks (one for aiming, the other for movement) and a series of buttons.
Previously, if he wanted to play C2 2, he could only use the QuadStick port, which only had one joystick. This limited his operation to either moving or aiming the weapon, but not both at the same time.
But now, with the help of the brain-computer interface implant, he can aim and move at the same time! The gaming experience has never been smoother.
Look at the video below. You can navigate easily and move between different game scenes. Isn’t that cool?
Alex happily said: "It's a great experience just running around. I can just look left and right without moving the Quadstick. Wherever I look, I go. It's crazy!"
Musk took the opportunity to make a bold statement about the future:
If all goes well, hundreds of people will have Neuralink brain-computer interfaces implanted in a few years, tens of thousands in five years, and millions in ten years.
He even said before that he was willing to have the chip implanted in his brain.
Enthusiastic fans have called on Musk to sell Neuralink T-shirts.
Designing for 3D printing with CAD
Prior to his spinal cord injury, Alex was an automotive technician, repairing and tinkering with all types of vehicles and large machinery.
Since then, he has wanted to learn how to use CAD software to design 3D objects so that he can work on projects flexibly.
However, his level of control using assistive technology was not sufficient to allow him to do this.
But Neuralink made his dream come true.
Today, Neuralink is working with Alex to make him more efficient at using the brain-computer interface by mapping intended movements to different types of mouse clicks.
This will expand the number of controls he has and allow him to quickly switch between various CAD modes, such as zooming, scrolling, panning, clicking and dragging, etc.
In his spare time, Alex continues to explore how to use CAD software to turn his design ideas into reality.
Neuralink also believes that over time, brain-computer interfaces will help more people create in areas of interest and expertise and find their own passion.
Alex happily said: "I can come up with an idea, turn it into a design, and finally turn the physical object into a finished product. I am now making things again!"
After connecting the brain-computer interface to the computer, it took Alex less than 5 minutes to start controlling the cursor with his mind.
Within hours, he had broken records for the Webgrid task, surpassing the maximum speed and accuracy achieved using any other assistive technology.
Similar to Noland, the first person to receive a brain-computer interface, Alex broke the previous world record for brain-computer interface cursor control using a non-Neuralink device on the first day of implantation.
After the first study, he started playing CS. He said: "The principle of Neuralink left a deep impression on me."
The first person to create a brain-computer interface, the fault has been solved
Taking this opportunity, Neuralink also stated that the electrode retraction problem has been resolved.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal published an article reporting on the failures that Neuralink had experienced. For example, connection problems made the device respond more slowly to the brain.
Moreover, Neuralink also wrote in a blog post that in the weeks after Noland's surgery in January, some of the electrode-embedded wires in his brain tissue began to retract from the tissue, rendering the device inoperable.
However, Neuralink immediately stated that it had made up for the accident through a series of software fixes.
Why does this happen?
Industry insiders said complications may have occurred because the wires were connected to a device inside the skull rather than to the surface of brain tissue.
“What engineers and scientists don’t realize is how much the brain moves around in the intracranial space,” says Eric Leuthardt, a neurosurgeon at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “Just nodding or moving your head suddenly can cause a perturbation of a few millimeters.”
Typically, surgeons place a brain implant directly on top of brain tissue, where it moves like a boat on water, said Matt Angle, CEO of Neuralink competitor Paradromics.
"Retraction of the electrode wires is not normal for a brain implant."
Before implanting Noland with a brain-computer interface, Neuralink conducted extensive testing of the device on animals.
However, one issue that Neuralink may have overlooked is that animals have relatively small brains compared to humans, so the electrodes cannot move as much as humans.
Fortunately, Alex's electrodes have now stabilized and the performance of the brain-computer interface has recovered, more than doubling the previous world record for BCI cursor control.
In order to prevent Alex from encountering a similar situation as Noland, Neuralink has taken many measures this time.
For example, reducing brain movement during surgery and reducing the gap between the implant and the brain surface.
To this end, Musk and his team conducted detailed discussions.
Surprisingly, Alex's interface has not yet experienced any electrode retraction.
Neuralink Expectations
They are working on decoding multiple clicks and multiple simultaneous move intentions to provide full mouse and video game controller functionality.
In addition, they are developing algorithms to recognize handwriting intent to enable faster text input.
Supporters say: No amount of praise for Elon is enough
People who cannot use their limbs may be able to use digital devices, and people who cannot speak (such as those with ALS) may be able to regain their ability to communicate.
In the team's vision, Neuralink will interact with the real world, allowing users to eat independently and control robotic arms or wheelchairs to move independently.
Is the next day far away?
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