braingate robotic arm is controlled by thought

a ‘braingate’ study at brown university has demonstrated robotic arms that are able to function as robotic ‘limbs’ for paralyzed patients above: paralyzed for almost 15 years, subject ‘S3’ in the ‘braingate 2’ trials uses her thoughts to control the robotic arm, grasp a thermos of coffee, serve herself a drink, and replace the bottle on the table

using their ‘braingate‘ system, researchers at brown university have successfully tested a robotic arm controlled directly by the brain activity and thoughts of tetraplegic patients. the system relies on a tiny microelectrode array, about half the size of a small pill, that is implanted into patients. brain signals can be translated by an external computer into machine instructions, allowing the control of robotic devices by thought.

previous ‘braingate’ studies have demonstrated successful two-dimensional point-and-click control of the system. the robotic arms in the most recent trials– the ‘DLR light-weight robot III’ five-fingered hand and the ‘DEKA arm system’– move in 3-dimensional space in response to patients’ brain signals, and are capable of grasping and moving objects.

the video footage of testing showcases one of this study’s two subjects taking a sip of coffee without the assistance of another person for the first time in the 15 years since she became paralyzed.

more info in the brown ‘braingate 2‘ press release

footage from the ‘braingate 2’ trials and discussion with members of the research time at brown

one of the two robotic arms in the study contains five-fingers, capable of grasping and moving objects on command in 3-dimensional space

while future research hopes to find ways besides implantation to monitor subjects’ brain waves, the current sensor array is very small, shown here against a dime for scale (NOTE on scale for our european readers: a dime’s diameter is 1mm smaller than that of the 2-cent euro coin)