A man with paralysis has been able to pilot a virtual drone using only his thoughts.
The feat was possible thanks to a brain-computer interface (BCI) that decoded the man’s brain activity in real time. Nature informed this week. The neural signals were associated with finger movements that allowed control of the virtual drone.
“There are many things we enjoy or do as humans where we use multiple, individualized finger movements, such as writing, sewing, or playing a musical instrument,” said study co-author Matthew Willsey, a neurosurgeon at the University of Michigan. in Ann Arbor. “That’s what this line of work focuses on: how we enable control of multiple things at the same time.”
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Willsey added that the experiment could have been done with a real drone, but the team decided to use a virtual one for greater ease and safety.
The 69-year-old man who participated in the study told researchers that controlling the virtual object was like playing a musical instrument and said: “Flying [the virtual drone] “They are little subtleties in a middle line, a little up, a little down.”
The man’s BCI was installed by Blackrock Neurotech and implanted in the area of the brain that controls hand movement.
An AI model was used to map the neural signals received by the BCI electrodes onto the man’s thoughts. New scientist. The participant first went through a process of learning how to imagine some of his fingers moving in a way that created electrical signals of varying intensity, which then allowed him to pilot the virtual drone through an obstacle course.
. He had a passion and dream for flying. He seemed very empowered and capable: he made us record videos and send them to our friends.”
BCI technology has made significant advances in recent years, and companies like Elon Musk’s Neuralink are also developing a device that is currently in human testing.
Once fully developed, a number of interesting applications could bring significant freedom and independence to people with paralysis.
They include allowing people with severe paralysis or locked-in syndrome to communicate by translating neural activity into text or voice simply through their thoughts. It can also allow people to use computers, play games, and operate wheelchairs and robotic prosthetics, and even do things like grab objects or scratch their faces.
However, challenges remain with the technology, including the medical risks of the surgery required to implant a BCI device.
High levels of concentration are also required on the part of the person using the device, as current BCIs correctly recognize mental commands only about 80% of the time, and up to 30% of users fail to make it work at all. . The psychological and health implications of this technology, including cognitive fatigue and prolonged exposure to electromagnetic fields, are also not yet fully understood.
These and other challenges highlight the need for continued research and development to improve BCI technology, address safety issues, and create appropriate regulatory frameworks.
