Gadgetory

well in one week a paralyzed volunteer will walk onto the field of the world cup and with the help of a robotic exoskeleton open the games with a ceremonial kick there is no joystick or steering wheel involved here the person inside is controlling the suit with just their mind it's one of the most advanced versions of a brain machine interface or BMI and while it sounds like science fiction it's actually just the latest proof we've entered the cyborg era this sue was created by the walk again project a consortium of over 100 neuro scientists and engineers from around the world it's spearheaded by dr. Miguel Nicolelis and his colleagues at the Duke Center for neural engineering building on more than 40 years of research on how to record and translate the electrical activity in our brains the natural language of thought into commands that a computer can understand BMI research began in the lab with rats and monkeys scientists were able to gather data on mental activity by implanting microelectrodes into the animals brains beginning in 2000 they were able to take that information and translate it in real time so that a monkey for example could use its mind to control a robotic arm in one of dr. Nikolai Lee's most famous experiments a monkey in the lab Duke was able to make a robot in Japan walk simply by thinking about moving its legs in recent years scientists have been working to bring the advances from the lab to humans in the real world but there's one major challenge most people aren't willing to get the kind of invasive surgery and implants necessary to gather enough data the waukegan project solves that big challenge it works using an EEG headset that is able to gather enough brain activity to control a robotic suit without any invasive surgery as BMI continues to improve it holds great promise for people who've lost mobility or limbs DARPA's dekha arm a BMI controlled prosthetic for example has already been approved by the FDA for testing outside the lab the big transformation however will come when this technology is deployed not just to help those with medical need but to augment improve the abilities of everyday people from soldiers to construction workers to extreme athletes VMI may push human bodies well beyond their natural limits as we learn how to translate the language of the brain in real time BMI may also open up new avenues for communication at the University of Washington earlier this year researchers demonstrated a brain-to-brain interface in which one subject could use his thoughts to control the movement of the person he was connected to BMI advocates like dr. Nicole Ellie's hope that in the future this kind of technology may allow us not just to control robots but to share a thought memories and emotions with our fellow humans in a neural network that connects us all you