As we had already reported to you, the first human Neuralink patient Noland Arbaugh – who has been implanted with a device that transforms neural input signals into an electronic device – is also using the new technology to play. It’s been a few weeks since the last update and now we can see that the man continues to play more and more games effectively. If previously we had talked about Civilization, now there are also other very popular games on the list, such as Slay the Spire and Old School RuneScape.
“I’m beating my friends in games where, as a quadriplegic, I shouldn’t have to beat them,” Arbaugh explains.
However, not everything seems to have gone well. Neuralink revealed that an unknown number of wires inserted into Arbaugh’s head during the installation of theN1 implant “withdrew” from his brain in the weeks following surgery. The movement of the wires forced Neuralink scientists to change the algorithm responsible for collecting and translating neural data. According to the company, this move made up for the loss in performance.
How the Neuralink N1 works
During the surgery, a circular section of the skull was removed to allow a specialized robot to access a section of Arbaugh’s brain. The robot used an extremely thin needle to insert a set of 64 ultra-fine threads.
These sensors are designed to detect the patient’s neural signals and send data to the main body of the N1 implant, which had been installed in the skull gap created during the surgical procedure.
The signals from the implant are then transmitted to a Neuralink application, which is trained to understand what the person’s intent is when he thinks about something and converts them into executable actions, such as moving a computer cursor.
Obviously It’s not perfect technology and Arbaugh reports that there are still many steps to be taken, but for him it is still a new way to interact with the digital world. Previously he had to use a tool held in his mouth to operate an iPad, but he needed support and the physical effort was considerable.
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