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Brain-computer interface enables people with paralysis to control tablet devices
In a study published November 21 in PLOS ONE, three clinical trial participants with tetraplegia, each of whom was using the investigational BrainGate BCI that records neural activity directly from a small sensor placed in the motor cortex, were able to navigate through commonly used tablet programs, including email, chat, music-streaming and video-sharing apps. The participants messaged with family, friends, members of the research team and their fellow participants. They surfed the web, checked the weather and shopped online. One participant, a musician, played a snippet of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" on a digital piano interface.
"For years, the BrainGate collaboration has been working to develop the neuroscience and neuroengineering know-how to enable people who have lost motor abilities to control external devices just by thinking about the movement of their own arm or hand," said Dr. Jaimie Henderson, a senior author of the paper and a Stanford University neurosurgeon. "In this study, we've harnessed that know-how to restore people's ability to control the exact same everyday technologies they were using before the onset of their illnesses. It was wonderful to see the participants express themselves or just find a song they want to hear."
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday November 24 2018, @10:17AM
I'll pass TFA on to a quadriplegic friend.
I got certified in a very special class whose classroom lectures took place at a recreational facility for physically disabled people in Santa Clara. Our first dives were in that facilities quite pleasantly body temperature swimming pool.
Both in the pool and when we trained in the ocean, two able-bodied divers would suit up a paraplegic our a quadriplegic diver then pull them along underwater.
One such quadriplegic person, Foster Andersen [sharedadventures.org], later appeared on the cover of a surfing magazine riding a surfboard.
Foster went on to write a book called My Second Life [amazon.com]. His "First Life" ended when he had a motorcycle accident at the age of seventeen. He sold a lot of copies but it's out of print now. I expect you could still buy it directly from him.
He later started a school for the disabled called Shared Adventures [sharedadventures.org], in Santa Cruz, California. Among its lessons is Rock Climbing, in which a couple able-bodied climbers haul the disabled student up steep cliffs. I'll ask him how high the tallest cliff is.
Foster is a great guy and wonderful friend to me. Nothing gets him down.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]