
Chip, Implanted in Brain, Helps Paralyzed Man Regain Control of Hand - dekayed
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/health/paralysis-limb-reanimation-brain-chip.html
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rhino369
I hope this technology pans out. My brother is quadriplegic, but still has
sensation in his hands. This would be perfect for him. It'll probably be a
decade or more before it's commercialized, but hopefully within his lifetime
he'll walk again.

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eggy
I remember an article in the 1980s about a wearable computer on a man's belt
with batteries, and he had some wires to his brain to help him see shapes, but
I can no longer find the reference or pics. It's amazing to see the progress
if you compare the pics of the large device back then to the things they are
doing now. That and the discoveries and inventions in computing, chip
manufacture, cognitive science and biology that are coming together in so many
ways. When I watched the film 'Transcendence' this past year, along with
having been a fan of Kronenberg and his movie 'eXistenZ', I really started to
think about the overlap and hybridization of technologies: implants, wearable
tech, AI, CI, CRISPR, biopunk, VR, AR, etc... I can see a dystopic
'Bladerunner' style future of cyborgs, modified humans and crazy disease and
organisms. On the other hand, I can see humanity coasting his way into
accepting the weirdness, and the crazy future it will bring.

In the meantime, I hope many who cannot, will get to partake in walking,
seeing and living longer due to these discoveries and inventions.

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vvvv
There have been several such operations, e.g.
[http://www.livescience.com/49991-bionic-eye-implanted-
man.ht...](http://www.livescience.com/49991-bionic-eye-implanted-man.html)

"A bionic eye implant is now allowing a blind man to see the outlines of his
wife after 10 years in darkness.

"The implant, called a retinal prosthesis, consists of a small electronic chip
that is placed at the back of the eye to send visual signals directly into the
optic nerve. This bypasses the damaged cells in the man's retina.

"The bionic eye doesn't have enough electrodes to recreate the details of
human faces, but for the first time since he lost his vision, the man can make
out the outlines of people and things, and walk without a cane."

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eggy
I meant a specific reference from the 1980s. I know of the new research. I had
found an article with photos and details on the surgical procedure. Thanks
anyway.

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kayfox
This reminds me of the book Interface by Neil Stephenson.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interface_(novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interface_\(novel\))

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ergothus
Reminds me more of The Turing Option by Harry Harrison and Marvin Minsky,
though Interface isn't a bad match either.

[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1807642.The_Turing_Option](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1807642.The_Turing_Option)

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contingencies
To anyone interested in this sort of development from a general standpoint I
can recommend _The Brain That Changes Itself_.

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jakeogh
Does he get the source?

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Frenchgeek
A roomful of computers modeling a neural network in order to interpret a
subset of a neural network.

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AstralStorm
Not quite, the sensor in the brain is pretty primitive. It's just best picked
96 neurons as opposed to many hundreds really required - and it didn't have a
few years to train yet either. They are likely using excess computational
capacity to denoise and predict higher order signals from neurons that are
connected to the lucky 96.

