(Credit: X.com user @Telepath_8)
A Neuralink brain chip patient is now controlling a robot arm with his mind.
On Monday, Nick Wray posted a video of himself demonstrating the capability by directing the robot arm to pick up a cup. In the clip, Wray—who has ALS—even takes a sip from the cup as the robot arm places the drink’s straw near his mouth. “I’ll be able to talk with my hands again,” he says as the robot arm holds and moves the cup up and down.
In a tweet, Wray also wrote that he used the robot arm with his brain chip last week. “I put on my own hat for the first time in years! I microwaved my own chicken nuggets and fed myself! I learned how to open my fridge and how to remove and replace lids on jars! I even got to try driving my wheelchair with it slowly inside. I did really well!” he added.
Neuralink’s brain chip, which converts brain signals into Bluetooth-based remote commands, grabbed headlines last year for enabling its first human user to control a laptop and play computer games. The company’s founder, Elon Musk, has also long talked about using the implant to help paraplegics regain limb control through robotic arms or even an entire Optimus robot from Tesla.
Wray's video provides the public with a fuller view of Neuralink's potential, following its teaser of the robot arm trials in January. Wray received the brain implant in July. So far, Neuralink has put its brain chip into 12 human patients.
In his tweet, Wray adds, “I also hold the new records (for now) for the most cylinders moved across the table in 5 minutes (39) and the most pegs flipped in a standard dexterity test (usually used for stroke patients) in 5 minutes."
We'll be curious to learn more about how the brain chip converts brain signals into physical robot action. Neuralink didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In the meantime, Wray is teasing that he'll post more videos of himself using his brain chip with the robot arm.