Elon Musk’s Neuralink introduced the first patient to receive its brain-computer implant, a 29-year-old diving-accident victim who showed during a livestream that he can now move a computer cursor using the device.
In a nine-minute presentation streamed on Musk’s X platform [March 20], Neuralink showed Noland Arbaugh directing the cursor around a screen to play a game of chess. Arbaugh said it feels like “using the force on a cursor,” referring to a concept from movies such as “Star Wars.” He said his surgery went well and he left the hospital after one day.
Musk tweeted in January that the first patient received the implant, specifying only that the person was recovering well. Since then, Arbaugh has been learning to use the implant. He described a process of training it to understand how his thoughts translate to moving the cursor. It has become much easier with time and now he can simply look at the screen and the cursor responds, he said.
“It’s not perfect, we have run into some issues,” said Arbaugh, without detailing them. But he added that the device has already changed his life.
