I, For One, Welcome Our New Cybernetic Monkey Overlords
Posted on
Thursday, May 29, 2008
by Gary A. Ballard
This story is an amazing little morsel. Scientists have gotten monkeys to control a mechanical prosthetic arm with their minds. A tiny grid of electrodes placed on the monkey's motor cortex allows the monkey to use a prosthetic arm to feed himself when offered bits of food. The monkeys learned to use the arm so well, they were able to adapt to changing situations such as the food sticking to the hand and act accordingly.
As a writer of speculative cyberpunk fiction, the idea of controlling prosthetics with brain implants has long been theorized. These kinds of experiments prove that the idea is possible, and only requires the passing of technological hurdles to be effective. Of course, this is only monkeys and not humans, but in conjunction with other discoveries such as Dean Kamen's Luke arm, one can certainly envision commerically viable cybernetic prosthetics in a matter of one or two decades. Bring on the cybermonkeys!
As a writer of speculative cyberpunk fiction, the idea of controlling prosthetics with brain implants has long been theorized. These kinds of experiments prove that the idea is possible, and only requires the passing of technological hurdles to be effective. Of course, this is only monkeys and not humans, but in conjunction with other discoveries such as Dean Kamen's Luke arm, one can certainly envision commerically viable cybernetic prosthetics in a matter of one or two decades. Bring on the cybermonkeys!
Labels: Cyberpunk, Science, Science-Fiction
posted by Gary A. Ballard @ 9:40 AM
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