A person with a chip to read the mind in his brain, thanks to Elon Musk

Having a chip in your brain that can translate your thoughts into computer commands may seem science fiction – but this is the reality for the Noland Arbo.

In January 2024 – eight years after he was paralyzed – a 30 -year -old boy became the first to receive such a device from an American firm on neurotchnology, Neuralink.

It was not the first such chip – several other companies developed and implanted them – but Noland inevitably attracts more attention from the Neuralink founder: Elon Musk.

But Noland says that the main thing is neither he nor Musk – but science.

He told the BBC that he knew the risk of what he is doing, but “good or bad, whatever, I would help.”

“If everything turned out, I could help participate Neuralink,” he said.

“When something scary happened, I realized that they would study on it.”

Noland, originally from Arizona, was paralyzed under his shoulders in the 2016 Diving accident.

His injuries were so serious that he was afraid that he would not be able to study, work and even play games again.

“You just have no control or confidentiality, and it’s hard,” he said.

“You have to find out what you need to rely on other people for everything.”

The Neuralink Chip looks like to restore your previous independence, allowing it to control your computer with your mind.

This is what is known as the brain interface (BCI) – working, revealing tiny electrical impulses that are formed when people think about moving and transfer them to a digital command, such as moving the cursor to the screen.

This is a difficult topic that scientists have been working on for several decades.

Elon Musk’s involvement in this area inevitably led to the technique – and Nolland Arbo – to headlines.

This helped Neuralink attract a lot of investment – as well as close attention about the safety and value of what is an extremely invasive procedure.

If the Nolland implant was announced Experts perceived it as a “significant milestone”While also warns that it will take time to really evaluate – especially given the distinctiveness of Musk when “creating advertising for your company”.

At the time, Musk was publicly with Keigay, just wrote in a social media report: “The original results show a promising detection of neurons.”

In reality, said Noland, a billionaire – which he talked before and after surgery – was much more optimistic.

“I think he was as excited as I did to start,” he said.

However, he emphasizes that Neuralink is more than its owner, and claims that it does not consider it “Elon Musk’s devices.”

Does it see the rest of the world – Especially given its increasingly controversial role in the US government – We still have to find out.

But there is no doubt what effect the device had on the life of Nolland.

When Noland woke up from the operation that installed the device, he said he was initially able to control the cursor on the screen, thinking about moving his fingers.

“Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect – it sounds so scientifically,” he said.

But when he saw his neurons on the screen – constantly surrounded by the excited employees Neuralink – he said, “He is all sinking” so he can control his computer only with his thoughts.

And – better yet – over time, its ability to use the implant has grown to the point that it can play chess and video games.

“I grew up, playing the game,” he said, adding that he “had to let go” when he became a disabled.

“Now I will beat my friends at the games, which should not be possible, but it is.”

Noland is a powerful demonstration of technology potential to change life – but there may be disadvantages.

“One of the main problems is confidentiality,” said Anil SET, Professor of Neurology at the Sussex University.

“So, when we export our brain activity (…), we allow you to access not only what we do, but also potentially what we think we believe and what we feel,” he said BBC.

“Once you get access to things in your head, there is actually no other barrier for personal privacy.”

But this is not a problem for Noland – instead he wants the chips to go further in terms of what they can do.

He told the BBC that he hoped the device may eventually allow him to control a wheelchair or even a futuristic humanoid robot.

Even with the technology in the current, more limited state, it is not all sailed.

At one point, the problem with the device made him lose control of his computer when it partially disabled from his brain.

“It was very upset, to put it mildly,” he said.

“I didn’t know if I could use Neuralink again.”

The connection was repaired – and then improved – when the engineers adjusted the software, but it emphasized the concern that experts often expressed technology restrictions.

Neuralink is just one of the many companies that study how to digitize our brain power.

Synchron is one of the firms, which states that its stentrod device aimed at helping people with motor neuron disease requires less invasive implant surgery.

Instead of demanding surgery on the open brain, it is installed in the jugular vein on the neck, and then moves to their brain through the blood vessel.

Like Neuralink, the device eventually connects to the motor area of ​​the brain.

“He is selected when someone thinks about knocking or not pressing his finger,” said Ricky Bancardja’s chief technology.

“Having the opportunity to choose these differences, it can create what we call a digital motor outlet.”

Then this exit turns into computer signals where 10 people are currently used.

One of the people who did not want his last name used, told the BBC that he was the first in the world to use the device using Apple Vision Pro.

Mark said it allowed him to rest in distant places – from standing in waterfalls in Australia to a walk through the New Zealand mountains.

“I see down the road in the future in which this technology can really change the situation for the one who has this or any paralysis,” he said.

But for Nolland, there is one caveat with his Neuralink chip – he agreed to become a participant of the study that established it for six years, after which, after which the future is less clear.

Whatever happens to him, he believes his experience may just be a scratching surface that can become a reality.

“We know so little about the brain, and it allows us to learn much more,” he said.

Additional reporting by Yasmin Morgan-Giffiths.