Well, sort of. From the International Herald Tribune:
Two monkeys with tiny sensors in their brains have learned to control a mechanical arm with just their thoughts, using it to reach for and grab food and even to adjust for the size and stickiness of morsels when necessary, scientists reported on Wednesday.
The report, released online by the journal Nature, is the most striking demonstration to date of brain-machine interface technology. Scientists expect that technology will eventually allow people with spinal cord injuries and other paralyzing conditions to gain more control over their lives.
The monkeys had great success even with slippery, hard-to-grab grapes, and used the robotic arm in unexpected ways — deftly maneuvering the claw so they could lick its fingers after eating. Time to hide the bananas.
If these hyper-intelligent monkeys ever get their acts together, move out of the White House and team up with a few dozen ASIMO robots, we might be in a world of trouble.
1 response so far ↓
1 Lysanne // Jun 3, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I think we could still distract them long enough with a bag of marshmallows…
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