Mind controlled robot suits are a thing

TopWargamer · November 25, 2013

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57613106-1/next-up-in-robot-suits-for-the-paralyzed-mind-control/?ttag=fbwl

(Well, we're half way there. I'm so punny.)

What if people who are paralyzed could use their brainwaves to get up out of wheelchairs and walk away? That's exactly what researchers from the University of Houston are hoping to accomplish with the latest evolution of robotic exoskeletons. They're turning to mind control to move these high-tech mobility machines to the next level -- and take patients with them.

The idea for for a mind-controlled robotic exoskeleton came to engineering professor Jose Contreras-Vidal, the project's lead, after Duke University's Miguel Nicolelis demonstrated that electrode arrays implanted in monkey brains could pick up on the neuron-firing patterns that occur when the monkey thinks about walking.

First off, this is just plain awesome. It's very rough, and it's only for the lower half of the body, but still very cool none the less.

Secondly, this has to be a godsend for people who are paralyzed from the waist down, because now instead of using a wheelchair, they can have well, this. Sure RIGHT NOW it's slow, but as the technology improves, people using this will be able to walk at a regular pace, or possibly even jog or run with it.

So yes, let's improve on this, and focus mainly on this, but let's start getting to work on the upper half version. Mind controlled exoskeleton suits...oh yes, they're coming.