(Credit: Neuralink)
It turns out Neuralink’s brain chip can play more than Civilization VI or chess. It can also be used to play Nintendo’s Mario Kart.
In a new video, Elon Musk’s startup is offering more details about how its first human patient, a quadriplegic named Noland Arbaugh, is using the company’s brain chip to control a laptop.
The company has been testing the brain chip’s capabilities since Arbaugh underwent surgery in January to receive the brain chip. As a request, Arbaugh wanted to see if he could use the implant to play Mario Kart with his friend.
In the first clip, which starts 18 minutes in, Arbaugh uses the implant to play Mario Kart with his dad, successfully completing the race in second place, all the while using a green turtle shell to take out another driver.
The video doesn’t explain how Neuralink configured the implant to play the Nintendo game. But users are speculating that the company tapped the Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu, which works on a PC and offers mouse input. (Nintendo recently shut down Yuzu through a legal threat.)
In a second clip, which starts at 20:30, Neuralink shows Arbaugh playing the game as the character Yoshi. As you can see, he’s able to control the character while moving no limbs at all.
The Mario Kart play is part of an presentation Neuralink gave to employees a few weeks ago to show them the progress on the brain chip. Arbaugh then posted a recording of the hour-long presentation on his Twitter account.
Arbaugh’s implant works by essentially reading his neural activity; although he can no longer use his limbs, the implant can still detect the brain signals for motor control. The chip will then convert these signals into Bluetooth-based remote commands that can be used to interface with an electronic device.
The results have changed Arbaugh’s life for the better. Prior to receiving the implant, he was forced to use mouth-operated controllers if he wanted to play certain games. But even then, it wasn’t comfortable. “It is basically impossible because I have to sit in one position for that long,” he said during the presentation.
Arbaugh lost the ability to control his limbs following a diving accident about eight years ago. But through the implant he’s been able to play the PC game Civilization VI, which he hasn’t done since becoming a quadriplegic.
“What you all are doing is just going to change the world,” Arbaugh told the Neuralink employees during the presentation. “It’s going to change how people like me just live their lives. It’s incredible, I can’t even describe it.”
In the video, Neuralink added that Arbaugh has been able to complete a total of 111,315 left mouse clicks, along with 35,045 right clicks through the implant.
(Credit: Neuralink )