Monkey thinks robotic arm into action

Brain impulses translated into 3-D manipulation

University of Pittsburgh

A time-lapse photograph shows a monkey raising a piece of zucchini to its lips using a thought-controlled robotic arm. The monkey's real arms are restrained.
Robotic arms used by amputees are typically controlled by moving some other part of the body, like the opposite arm. Researchers would like to make such prostheses respond to the whim of the brain.

Now it turns out researchers have found a method so easy (well, relatively so) that a monkey can do it.

In a new study, a monkey fed itself using a robotic arm electronically linked to its brain. The work was presented here Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science. More