Elon Musk's Brain Chip Implant Recipient Plays Civilization VI on PC Using His Mind
Elon Musk's Brain Chip Implant Recipient Plays Civilization VI on PC Using Mind Photo: Neuralink/X
- The first human to become a Neuralink patient says the brain chip implant has changed his life. He can use a computer just with his mind.
In a live broadcast on Wednesday, Neuralink introduced Nolan Arbaugh, 29, a quadriplegic who agreed to receive a brain chip in January. Since then, he has used the implant to remotely control the mouse cursor on his computer.
Arbaugh said he lost the ability to use his limbs after a serious diving accident about eight years ago.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
"So I'm paralyzed from below the shoulders," he said while sitting in a wheelchair. "I don't feel any sensation or movement beneath my injury."
As a result, he has difficulty using computers, even with today's accessibility controllers. But during the live broadcast, Arbaugh showed that he can now utilize his Neuralink implant to play chess on his laptop.
The implant works by reading the user's brain signals and translating them into Bluetooth-based remote commands to control electronic devices, such as a mouse cursor. For Arbaugh, this initially involved trying to move his hands, although he lost the ability to use them.
"From there, it became intuitive for me to start imagining the cursor moving. Basically, it's like using the Force on the cursor and I can move it wherever I want," he explained referring to Star Wars.
"This is crazy. It's true. This is so cool. I'm so lucky to be a part of this," he added in the nine-minute live broadcast. “Every day, it seems like we learn something new.”
Thanks to the implant, he can also play the PC game Civilization VI, outside of Neuralink research sessions. Because an eight-hour gaming session means the implant needs to be recharged wirelessly, as reported by PCMag.
Arbaugh's success in playing games using his mind seems to answer scientists' concerns about the fate of patients with chip implants carried out by Elon Musk's company. The reason is that the public does not get enough information from Neuralink to verify their claims, especially regarding safety practices.
"Neuralink is currently sharing very little of the information they want us to know," said Sameer Sheth, a neurosurgeon specializing in implant neurotechnology at Baylor College of Medicine. "There's a lot of concern in the community about that."
Elon Musk revealed in February that the first human recipient of a brain chip made by Neuralink was recovering well. He even claimed the patient was able to control a mouse using just his thoughts.
"The progress is going well. The patient has fully recovered, with the neural effects we had anticipated. The patient is able to move the mouse on the screen using only his thoughts," wrote Musk on his personal X account, quoted by Reuters
According to IFL Science, Neuralink aims to trial an implantable wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) that allows users with paralysis to control devices with just their thoughts.
BCI itself is not a new idea. But, while other BCI approaches do exist, Neuralink stands out for being the first wireless model to record input from individual neurons. This is agreed by many experts to achieve more advanced functions. By eliminating the need for an implantable cable to an external computer, this will eliminate the potential for infection and allow users to carry out daily activities without having to be connected to a device.
If the trial proves successful, it has the potential to revolutionize the lives of paralysis patients and help them communicate more easily. In this way, they can also achieve greater independence.
However, there is no denying the fact that Neuralink research is shrouded in skepticism and controversy. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed a lawsuit against the company. PCMR states that photographs stored at the University of California Davis reveal animal experiments with brain implants that cause suffering.