Thoughts could soon do what your hands do now

By agreeing to have 64 threads implanted in his brain, 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh helped Elon Musk’s Neuralink create history in January this year.

The implanted device, called N1 Implant, was Neuralink’s first human trial of wireless brain-computer interface (BCI) which promises to usher in an era of direct interaction between thoughts and a device. Current modes of operating smartphone or computer—hands, fingers, voice or eyes—won’t be needed. The entire interaction will be via thoughts.
\Since each thread implanted into Noland’s brain was thinner than human hair the operation couldn’t be done by hands. A custom-made surgical robot did the implant at a neurological institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Noland could go home a day after the surgery.

According to a Neuralink blog, the implant is powered by an onboard rechargeable battery. “The ability to wirelessly communicate and inductively (wirelessly) charge enables the N1 Implant to be implanted under the scalp so that it is cosmetically invisible and used without any physical connectors to external devices.”
Noland’s was first of the two human trials of BCI by Neuralink. In a few weeks of his surgery, Noland started using his laptop with his thoughts. Lying down in his bed he played online games (Chess, Civilization), browsed internet, live streamed and used other applications on his computer. All by controlling a cursor with his mind. Neuralink calls it “Telepathy”.

“It has helped me reconnect with the world, my friends, and my family. It’s given me the ability to do things on my own again without needing my family at all hours of the day and night,” Noland was quoted as saying in the blog.

The second person to get implant in July this year was Alex who, like Noland, had become quadriplegic due to spinal cord injuries. Quadriplegia is paralysis of all limbs, usually caused by damage to the spinal cord. It can also be the result of degenerative diseases or certain neurological conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Alex not only performed tasks that Noland did but also used brain-to-cursor control to operate complex design software and created 3D models. Before his spinal cord injury, Alex worked as an automotive technician. He wanted to learn how to design 3D objects using computer-aided design software.

“Taking an idea, putting it as a design, and actually having a physical item as a finished product makes me feel like I’m building things again,” Alex was quoted as saying.

Apart from restoring digital autonomy for those who are unable to use their limbs, BCI can also help people with speech impairments communicate clearly. Another project of Neuralink, called Blindsight, aims to restore vision in blind. The company was recently granted permission to start human trial for Blindsight.

Neuralink is the best known, and maybe the most advanced, company developing BCI, but not the only one. There are at least a dozen more labs and companies working in this field. Synchron, another US-based company, has developed a minimally invasive neural implant called the “Stentrode,” which allows paralysed people to control digital devices using their thoughts. Blackrock Neurotech and Kernel are developing non-invasive BCI systems to detect brain activity. Outside US, researchers at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland and the University of Melbourne in Australia have made advances in BCI technology, particularly in neural implants and non-invasive approaches.

Brain-to-machine interface is the first leap in converting thoughts into physical actions. The next leap would be brain-to-brain interaction between people—eliminating the need to talk, which may eventually make even the languages redundant!

Agencies

CAPTION: Noland Arbaugh playing chess with his thoughts. ‘Implant has given me ability to do things on my own again without needing my family at all hours of the day and night’, he says