A patient suffering from tetraplegia steered a smart wheelchair through the neighbourhood with only his thoughts and directed a robotic dog to fetch a food delivery. These scenes were achieved during a recent clinical trial of a brain-computer interface conducted by a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
This shattered the conventional boundaries of rehabilitation, carrying the brain’s command from a two-dimensional cursor on a screen into full-bodied, three-dimensional interaction with the physical world.
Brain-computer interfaces are designed to create a direct communication channel between the brain and external devices. Around the world, research groups have already demonstrated the laboratory feats, including “mind typing” and robotic-arm control. The enduring challenge is to make those systems reliable enough to vanish into a patient’s daily life.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 