And now for some good news
The bad news just keeps coming, so here’s an antidote—a shoulder-level double amputee has been fit with robotic arms whose movement is controlled by his mind. This process has involved a series of training steps:
In order to prepare his body for the devices, Baugh underwent a surgery called targeted muscle reinnervation. The procedure redirected nerves that once controlled his limbs to interact with the prosthetics.
Next, he trained on a computer, working with virtual models as pattern recognition software learned to apply signals from his brain to his intended movements. Then, Johns Hopkins researchers fitted him with a personalized socket to hold the prostheses to his body and translate his mental controls.
When they attached the robotic limbs, he performed a variety of two-handed tasks””becoming the first person to ever manipulate two independent arms with his mind at the same time.
This is the stuff of science fiction come true.
I also wonder whether, if Baugh had been plagued by phantom limb pain at any point, the re-training helped with that. I say this based on the evidence that what is known as mirror therapy can work to help phantom limb pain, as can mental visualization to a lesser extent.
This is indeed a very positive development. That said, we should always remember that while swords may be beaten into plowshares, plowshares may also be made into swords.
There are obvious military applications to this technology.
In the brave new world on our horizon, the only real safety from disaster is principled morality.
These are the kinds of developments that I have long hoped for. I honestly don’t see any genuine reason that most amputees and para/quadriplegics in the relatively near future can’t be sufficiently restored to live independent and fulfilling lives.
Neo-I thought of the phantom limb pain issue too and it might address the issue, considering how fascinatingly effective mirror-therapy has been, it seems actually moving a replacement limb responding to direct nerve inputs might work. Though mirror therapy has the advantage of using one fully functional and naturally animated limb to aid in psyching the brain to let go of the pain.
I would truly appreciate seeing them finding a way to tie into the severed nerve bundles themselves, though sorting things out would be a lot of work, it would be far better than a Hawking’s like solution of twitching different muscle groups, separately and only independently, to methodically maneuver the limb. Baby steps, and great leaps, great to see this.
I do have to say that those were the most sophisticated prosthetic limbs I’ve ever seen. The hands need a faux skin enclosure for the sake of water proofing and keeping things from getting stuck or pinched in the mechanisms, but wow, really great, and, as GB says, possibly scary. We could be on our way to building the replacement bodies our brains will be downloaded, or swapped over, to. Or we could be creating the vehicle for our future AI masters. (?!)