One Giant Bite
December 23, 2012 10:37 AM   Subscribe

Today I am sharing a video of a woman with quadriplegia who has trained her brain to use a robotic arm to feed herself chocolate. Merry Christmas!
posted by jason's_planet (18 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
First things first. This woman has her priorities straight.
posted by fredludd at 11:07 AM on December 23, 2012 [4 favorites]


Amazing.
posted by schwa at 11:12 AM on December 23, 2012


Great video. Thanks for posting.
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 12:02 PM on December 23, 2012


Anyone who says science is emotionless or heartless needs to see this video. Science isn't the end of miracles, it's the beginning.
posted by Celsius1414 at 12:04 PM on December 23, 2012 [1 favorite]


Merry Christmas future robot overlords!
posted by Artw at 12:47 PM on December 23, 2012 [1 favorite]


Now, to complete the rest of the exoskeleton!
posted by Mitrovarr at 1:24 PM on December 23, 2012 [2 favorites]


I couldn't really tell from the video whether the implant as it currently exists offers control over individual joints in the fingers. They were clearly moving independently, but that could have been a function of their firmware.

Anyhow, the logical next step is to put an automated Swiss Army Knife on the back of the hand. And get one for Steven Hawking. I mean come on.
posted by LogicalDash at 2:08 PM on December 23, 2012


Wow. Just wow. This is definitely where it all starts. It's amazing how much they're able to pick up from just her brain, turning off the software-based assistance.

Really well worth watching, thanks for posting.
posted by disillusioned at 4:29 PM on December 23, 2012


Science works.

Thanks for the post.
posted by sotonohito at 4:30 PM on December 23, 2012


I wonder if they could figure out a way to connect the signals from her brain directly to her muscles - they can be contracted by sending an electric pulse, maybe in the future we'll be able to repair spinal injuries not by giving people robot arms, but by directly controlling people's muscles.
posted by delmoi at 5:34 PM on December 23, 2012 [1 favorite]


Today I am sharing a video of a woman with quadriplegia who has trained her brain to use a robotic arm to feed herself chocolate.

Tomorrow you are sharing a video of this woman using her giant robot body to feed herself screaming people to power her biomass reactor. To her modified senses, they taste like chocolate.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:22 PM on December 23, 2012 [5 favorites]


We live in the future! Aaaah so cool.

She should get her little brain port thingies bedazzled.
posted by Mizu at 11:36 PM on December 23, 2012


That is just extraordinary. Absolutely the most fantastic thing.

Does anybody have other links to direct brain interfaces like this? I wonder about direct brain to computer user interface control, for example.
posted by Chuckles at 11:38 PM on December 23, 2012


That is awesome! Gave me a big smile. Thanks for posting.
posted by springbound at 1:20 AM on December 24, 2012


Amazing, to live in the future.

Those preamplifier packages they attached to her head were Serious Business. And I have to wonder what was on written that whiteboard that they had blur out.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 3:10 AM on December 24, 2012


I wonder if they could figure out a way to connect the signals from her brain directly to her muscles - they can be contracted by sending an electric pulse

That's one approach. My own concern would be that the muscles might -- at this point, at least -- be so atrophied that they would have to undergo serious rehabilitation before they could be useful for experiments like this.

Maybe the robotic arms could be used as a bridge, as a temporary measure, during such rehabilitation.

Those preamplifier packages they attached to her head were Serious Business.

How so? (in layman's terms, if possible!)

Many thanks to everyone who enjoyed this post! Merry Christmas!
posted by jason's_planet at 10:50 AM on December 24, 2012 [1 favorite]


Hey, she did a Reddit AskMeAnything.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:03 AM on December 30, 2012 [1 favorite]


How so?
I meant the grey boxes at the ends of the cables. That's a pretty compact package for a hundred channels of low-noise amplifiers, especially if you take the usual precautions to reduce cross-talk between the channels that are next to each other. But it's a Great Big Box to have bolted onto your head.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 2:40 PM on January 3, 2013 [1 favorite]


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