The man with a mind-reading chip in his brain, thanks to Elon Musk

Having a chip in your brain that can transrescheduleed your thoughts into computer directs may sound appreciate science myth – but it is a truth for Noland Arbaugh.

In January 2024 – eight years after he was paralysed – the 30-year-elderly became the first person to get such a device from the US neurotechnology firm, Neurajoin.

It was not the first such chip – a handful of other companies have also increaseed and imarrangeted them – but Noland’s inevitably entices more attention because of Neurajoin’s set uper: Elon Musk.

But Noland says the vital leang is neither him nor Musk – but the science.

He telderly the BBC he knovel the hazards of what he was doing – but “excellent or horrible, wdisappreciatever may be, I would be helping”.

“If everyleang labored out, then I could help being a participant of Neurajoin,” he shelp.

“If someleang horrible happened, I knovel they would lget from it.”

Noland, who is from Arizona, was paralysed below the shoulders in a diving accident in 2016.

His injuries were so disjoine he stressed he might not be able to study, labor or even perestablish games aget.

“You fair have no deal with, no privacy, and it’s difficult,” he shelp.

“You have to lget that you have to depend on other people for everyleang.”

The Neurajoin chip watchs to revamp a fraction of his previous indepfinishence, by allotriumphg him to deal with a computer with his mind.

It is what is comprehendn as a brain computer interface (BCI) – which labors by recognizeing the minuscule electrical impulses originated when humans leank about moving, and translating these into digital direct, such as moving a cursor on a screen.

It is a intricate subject that scientists have been laboring on for disjoinal decades.

Inevitably, Elon Musk’s includement in the field has catapulted the tech – and Noland Arbaugh – into the headlines.

It’s helped Neurajoin entice lots of spendment – as well as scruminuscule over the shieldedty and significance of what is an innervously invasive procedure.

When Noland’s imarranget was proclaimd, experts hailed it as a “meaningful milestone”, while also cautioning that it would get time to repartner appraise – especipartner given Musk’s adeptness at “generating unveility for his company.”

Musk was cagey in unveil at the time, srecommend writing in a social media post: “Initial results show promising neuron spike recognizeion.”

In truth, Noland shelp, the billionaire – who he spoke to before and after his sencouragery – was far more preferable.

“I leank he was fair as excited as I was to get commenceed,” he shelp.

Nonetheless, he stresses that Neurajoin is about more than its owner, and claims he does not consider it “an Elon Musk device”.

Whether the rest of the world sees it that way – especipartner given his increasingly disputed role in the US rulement – remains to be seen.

But there is no asking the impact the device has had on Noland’s life.

When Noland awoke from the sencouragery which inshighed the device, he shelp he was initipartner able to deal with a cursor on a screen by leanking about wiggling his fingers.

“Honestly I didn’t comprehend what to await – it sounds so sci-fi,” he shelp.

But after seeing his neurons spike on a screen – all the while surrounded by excited Neurajoin engageees – he shelp “it all sort of sunk in” that he could deal with his computer with fair his thoughts.

And – even better – over time his ability to use the imarranget has increasen to the point he can now perestablish chess and video games.

“I grew up perestablishing games,” he shelp – compriseing it was someleang he “had to let go of” when he became disabled.

“Now I’m beating my frifinishs at games, which repartner shouldn’t be possible but it is.”

Noland is a mighty demonstration of the tech’s potential to change dwells – but there may be drawbacks too.

“One of the main problems is privacy,” shelp Anil Seth, Professor of Neuroscience, University of Susrelations.

“So if we are send outing our brain activity […] then we are benevolent of allotriumphg access to not fair what we do but potentipartner what we leank, what we consent and what we sense,” he telderly the BBC.

“Once you’ve got access to stuff inside your head, there repartner is no other barrier to personal privacy left.”

But these aren’t worrys for Noland – instead he wants to see the chips go further in terms of what they can do.

He telderly the BBC he hoped the device could eventupartner permit him to deal with his wheelchair, or even a futuristic humanoid robot.

Even with the tech in its current, more confineed state, it hasn’t all been fine sailing though.

At one point, an publish with the device caused him to leave out deal with of his computer altogether, when it partipartner disjoined from his brain.

“That was repartner disturbting to say the least,” he shelp.

“I didn’t comprehend if I would be able to use Neurajoin ever aget.”

The joinion was repaired – and subsequently betterd – when engineers adfaired the gentleware, but it highairyed a worry widespreadly voiced by experts over the technology’s confineations.

Neurajoin is fair one of many companies exploring how to digihighy tap into our brain power.

Synchron is one such firm, which says its Stentrode device aimed at helping people with motor neurone disrelieve needs a less invasive sencouragery to imarranget.

Rather than requiring uncover brain sencouragery, it is inshighed into a person’s jugular vein in their neck, then shiftd up to their brain thcdisorrowfulmireful a blood vessel.

Like Neurajoin, the device ultimately joins to the motor region of the brain.

“It picks up when someone is leanking of tapping or not tapping their finger,” shelp chief technology officer Riki Bannerjee.

“By being able to pick up those branch offences it can originate what we call a digital motor output.”

That output is then turned into computer signals, where it is currently being used by 10 people.

One such person, who did not want his last name to be used, telderly the BBC he was the first person in the world to use the device with Apple’s Vision Pro headset.

Mark shelp this has permited him to virtupartner holiday in far-flung locations – from standing in waterdescfinishs in Australia to strolling atraverse mountains in New Zealand.

“I can see down the road in the future a world where this technology could repartner, repartner originate a branch offence for someone that has this or any paralysis,” he shelp.

But for Noland there is one caveat with his Neurajoin chip – he consentd to be part of a study which inshighed it for six years, after which point the future is less evident.

Wdisappreciatever happens to him, he consents his experience may be medepend scratching the surface of what might one day become a truth.

“We comprehend so little about the brain and this is allotriumphg us to lget so much more,” he shelp.

Additional inestablishing by Yasmin Morgan-Griffiths.