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This will be a big boon to the physically handicapped, especially to those completely paralyzed, if it ever goes to market......



http://investmentunderground.com/2016/03/new-technology-allows-monkeys-to-drive-robotic-wheelchairs/



Or it might be the herald of a monkey uprising.

Very cool, but I don't exactly see people lining up for intracranial electrode implantation. Getting good signal quality from those is a hardware problem, whereas refining EEG signal is a software problem to which the solution doesn't involve another round of brain surgery.

This will be a big boon to bald guys that run schools for mutants...

If Stephen Hawking gets a thought controlled wheelchair, it will probably teleport.

This would benefit people who suffer from locked in syndrome.

A medical condition, usually resulting from a stroke that damages part of the brainstem, in which the body and most of the facial muscles are paralyzed but consciousness remains and the ability to perform certain eye movements is preserved.

This article was linked in the OP's linked article.
http://www.nature.com/articles/srep22170
I admit I didn't read all of it, heavy stuff.

I have heard bits and pieces of the tests behind this kinds of stuff and I try to make heads/tails of it. If I remember correctly to make the connections better they use material, like gold, with petri grown nerve fibers wrapped around the electrodes that inserted into the brain. This allows the brain to connect to the nerve fibers and accepted the electrodes without corroding the wiring. It also makes a more complete connection between the rain and electrodes. Once again, I could be wrong or misinterpreting the info.

 NuggzTheNinja wrote:
Very cool, but I don't exactly see people lining up for intracranial electrode implantation. Getting good signal quality from those is a hardware problem, whereas refining EEG signal is a software problem to which the solution doesn't involve another round of brain surgery.

I'm now imagining Steven Hawking being stuck in the same spot due to the equivilant of a mental wifi failure

It seems wrong to think this, I can't help but feel that able-bodied people might adopt this and become lazier like in Up.

Also, I'm able-bodied so I'm not fully aware of what disabled people really want, but if I were, I think I would want the ability to walk again as opposed to be confined to a chair.

However, I do applaud that they are doing this, particularly for those that require it, such as locked in syndrome.

 Frozocrone wrote:

Also, I'm able-bodied so I'm not fully aware of what disabled people really want, but if I were, I think I would want the ability to walk again as opposed to be confined to a chair.

I'm sure many would, but I don't think this is for those with lower body impairments, and it's not an either/or. This is a step that gives more freedom to those who currently have no or limited ability to use an electric chair. Not a replacement for all wheelchairs.

Able bodied people won't want it any more than mobility scooters. You would have to be very lazy to be so lazy you don't even want to move your hands and would rather have electrodes I,planted in your brain. If anyone is that committed to being lazy I say let them.