[7wizted_rea1ity]

Wow, they tested it on humans now? Last school year I wrote a school article on that technology being tested monkeys. Using a multi-electrode cap, the researchers recorded the monkey’s brain waves that correspond to an action. The monkey learned to control a robotic arm mentally by first using a joystick to move a cursor across a computer screen. Electrodes in the monkey’s brain recorded the command signals that moved the monkey’s arm. The signals were sent to a computer that compared them to the joystick’s motions to predict the actual movements from the brain’s signals. After the computer was familiar with the brain patterns of the monkey, it used the signals as opposed to the joystick to move the cursor. The monkey realized this and simply used its thoughts to control the cursor.

Later, they changed it so the joystick controlled a robotic arm in the other room (which moved the cursor) instead of controlling the cursor directly The same method was applied and soon the monkey learned to move the robot arm with its thoughts.

If I remember correctly, the technology was aimed to help those disabled, not simply to have fun. (Information from Popular Science February 2004)