Brain chips let a paralyzed man feel touch through a robotic arm : theverge

as informed in theverge

Brain chips let a paralyzed man feel touch through a robotic arm

Brain chips let a paralyzed man feel touch through a robotic arm

Nathan Copeland hasn't been able to move his legs or hands since he broke his neck in a car accident more than a decade ago.But now that scientists have implanted four chips in his brain, Copeland can control a robotic arm with his mind and feel when someone touches its fingers.This is the first time that a neural implant has allowed a person to feel touch through a prosthetic by directly stimulating his brain.


furthermore techcrunch

Brain-computer interface lets a man with a spinal injury feel robotic fingers

Brain-computer interface lets a man with a spinal injury feel robotic fingers

"Index… ring… pinky… index… middle…"Nathan Copeland is telling a researcher which of his fingers he feels a touch on.But the researcher is touching a robotic hand, not Copeland's, whose hand hasn't felt a thing in over a decade.In this "proof of principle" experiment, a man whose spinal injury removed all sensation from his limbs was able to "feel" pressure on several robotic digits connected directly to his brain.


moreover from engadget

Neural implants and robot arms allow paralyzed man to feel again

Neural implants and robot arms allow paralyzed man to feel again

According to a study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on Thursday, this system fully bypasses Copeland's natural sensory pathway, which had been severed in his accident, and instead transmits electrical signals directly into his sensory and motor cortices.This enables him to not only feel when something presses against the robotic hand but also control the mechanical arm using only his thoughts.Well, technically, his thoughts are first routed through an external computer which decodes the intent and translates it into commands that drive the robot arm.