New Brain Chip Allows Paralysed Man to Play Chess

Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain chip start-up, has shared a video of its first patient using a computer with the help of an implanted device.

The neurotechnology company shared the exciting moment via Twitter on Wednesday, 20 March, as Noland Arbaugh – a man who was paralysed below his shoulders in a diving accident – uses a cursor to play chess online.

The brave 29-year-old received the implant in January, which allows him to control a computer mouse using his thoughts.

“Basically, it was like using ‘the Force’ on the cursor, and I could get it to move wherever I wanted. Just stare somewhere on the screen and it would move where I wanted it to, which was such a wild experience the first time it happened,” Arbaugh said during the video.

He later went on to add that he had been able to play one of his favourite video games, “Civilization VI”, for eight hours straight.

According to Arbaugh, there is still a lot of fine-tuning to be done, as they “have run into some issues”. However, for now, it’s a promising start to what can only be described as life-changing technology.

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