Elon Musk This was announced Monday Neuralinkthe company that I co-founded 2016I was able to implant it in a person's brain chip It must be allowed Interact with computers with thought.
However, it is not the first company to achieve such a feat Musk's fame As an entrepreneur/engineer, the steps this company has taken are sobering Lots of anticipation
It has been announced Twitterthe social network he bought and renamed XPointing out that “preliminary results appear Promising discovery of neural mutations“:
“The first human received the Neuralink implant yesterday and is recovering well.”
He has telepathy
He also explained that “thisFirst product“From Neuralink it is named for Telepathyi.e. “telepathy”, which “allows”. Control your phone or computer just by thinking“.
He added that he hopes this technology will be very useful for the people who use it Quadriplegia, Multiple lateral sclerosis Or other diseases, the development of theoretical physics Stephen Hawking For example:
“Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a writer or a middleman. That's the goal.”
However, Neuralink has not been released Communications cover And he didn't reply Journalists' questions Who requested more details, e.gReuters.
Previously, they mentioned that they are also working on it Other lines of research: For example, recovery from psychological illnesses such as Depression Or get that Blind people can see.
A little over a year ago, Musk confirmed this First implantation in humans It will be 6 months later, but it seems like the process It has been extended It took another half a year.
Surgical robot tested on monkeys
This company announced almost 3 years ago that it had managed to get a macaque monkey by transplanting a brain Playing a computer game With this idea, in May they said they had done it Government permission To test it on humans.
Neuralink has been developed Surgical robot Who does the whole process: drilling the skull, contacting Microelectrodes To the neurons in the area of the brain that control movements, the wireless chip was implanted and the hole was covered.
In this video of the company you can see Size of electrodes compared to Tip of a pencil:
And in this other it appears Robot in action With a model that mimics a person:
Complaint of animal cruelty
His use of monkeys for research has been well received Complaints and criticism: In September, the American non-governmental organization Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine The company accused Animal abuse.
Specifically, they reported that they had sacrificed 12 young, healthy monkeys Due to complications from operations, which Musk himself denied, claiming that they were using him Animals' stations“.
More advanced European precedents
There are European companies that have been successfully working on similar projects for years: the 2019 A French research center managed to do this He walked paralyzed Thanks to Exoskeleton Controlled by thought.
Two years ago in Switzerland Three people with spinal cord injuries For motorcycle accidents, they proceeded using a computer system that transmitted information From the brain to points in the spine.
And in May Holland A paralyzed man also walked in a similar manner. “digital bridge” between the brain and the spine, which has also previously been tested on monkeys.
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