Elon Musk’s Neuralink claims that monkeys are able to play Pong using just their minds, a step forward in the company’s goal to enable people with paralysis to use a computer or phone with their brain activity.
According to CNN Business, the monkey has a Bluetooth-enabled Neuralink device implanted in both sides of his brain that can communicate with computers. “He’s learned to interact with a computer for a tasty banana smoothie delivered through a straw,” said the narrator of a video the company released.
Musk said on Twitter that the first iteration of the device “will enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs.” He continued: “Later versions will be able to shunt signals from Neuralinks in brain to Neuralinks in body motor/sensory neuron clusters, thus enabling, for example, paraplegics to walk again.”