Transforming Thoughts Into Deeds

Found on Wired News on Tuesday, 13 January 2004
Browse Future

SAN FRANCISCO -- Lots of people wish they could jack their brain directly to their computer and toss out those annoying keyboards and joysticks -- especially people who can't use keyboards or joysticks.

Five quadriplegic patients might be months away from testing a brain-computer interface created by Cyberkinetics, a privately held company in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The company's system, called BrainGate, could help patients with no mobility to control a computer, a robot or eventually their own rewired muscles, using only their thoughts. If the trials go well, a product could be on the market by 2007.

"It looks a lot like the Matrix," Surgenor said, referring to the sockets in the backs of the movie characters' heads that allowed them to log into the Matrix grid.

Finally, cybernetic implants. No more mousing around, no more typing. I think, therefore I am. Or surf. Resistance is futile!