Musk has claimed the machine could make implanting Neuralink's electrodes as easy as LASIK eye surgery. While this is a bold claim, neuroscientists previously told Insider in 2019 that the machine has some very promising features.
Andrew Hires, a neurologist at the University of Southern California, highlighted a feature, which would automatically adjust the needle to compensate for the movement of a patient's brain, as the brain moves during surgery along with a person's breathing and heartbeat.
The robot as it currently stands is eight feet tall, and while Neuralink is developing its underlying technology its Woke Studios crafted its design.
The Neuralink device in Gertrude's brain transmitted live data during the demo as she snuffled around. Neuralink/YouTube
The demonstration was proof of concept and showed how the chip was able to accurately predict the positioning of Gertrude's limbs when she was walking on a treadmill, as well as recording neural activity when the pig snuffled about for food. Musk said the pig had been living with the chip embedded in her skull for two months.
"In terms of their technology, 1,024 channels is not that impressive these days, but the electronics to relay them wirelessly is state-of-the-art, and the robotic implantation is nice," Andrew Jackson, an expert in neural interfaces at Newcastle University, said.
"This is solid engineering, but mediocre neuroscience," he said.
Jackson told Insider following the 2020 presentation that the wireless relay from the Neuralink chip could potentially have a big impact on the welfare of animal test subjects in science, as most neural interfaces currently in use on test animals involve wires poking out through the skin.
"Even if the technology doesn't do anything more than we're able to do at the moment — in terms of number of channels or whatever — just from a welfare aspect for the animals, I think if you can do experiments with something that doesn't involve wires coming through the skin, that's going to improve the welfare of animals," he said.
Neuralink released video of a macaque monkey named Pager playing video games such as "Pong" for banana-smoothie rewards.
Pager played the games using a joystick that was disconnected from the games console, meaning he was controlling the cursor using his brain signals as his arm moved.
Elon Musk monkey Vachira Vachira/NurPhoto via Getty Images/Pool/Getty Images
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Andrew Hires, a neurologist at the University of Southern California, highlighted a feature, which would automatically adjust the needle to compensate for the movement of a patient's brain, as the brain moves during surgery along with a person's breathing and heartbeat.
The robot as it currently stands is eight feet tall, and while Neuralink is developing its underlying technology its Woke Studios crafted its design.
In 2020, Neuralink showed off one of its chips embedded in a pig named Gertrude.
The Neuralink device in Gertrude's brain transmitted live data during the demo as she snuffled around. Neuralink/YouTube
The demonstration was proof of concept and showed how the chip was able to accurately predict the positioning of Gertrude's limbs when she was walking on a treadmill, as well as recording neural activity when the pig snuffled about for food. Musk said the pig had been living with the chip embedded in her skull for two months.
"In terms of their technology, 1,024 channels is not that impressive these days, but the electronics to relay them wirelessly is state-of-the-art, and the robotic implantation is nice," Andrew Jackson, an expert in neural interfaces at Newcastle University, said.
"This is solid engineering, but mediocre neuroscience," he said.
Jackson told Insider following the 2020 presentation that the wireless relay from the Neuralink chip could potentially have a big impact on the welfare of animal test subjects in science, as most neural interfaces currently in use on test animals involve wires poking out through the skin.
"Even if the technology doesn't do anything more than we're able to do at the moment — in terms of number of channels or whatever — just from a welfare aspect for the animals, I think if you can do experiments with something that doesn't involve wires coming through the skin, that's going to improve the welfare of animals," he said.
Neuralink went a step further with its animal demos in April 2021, when it showed off a monkey playing video games with its mind.
Neuralink released video of a macaque monkey named Pager playing video games such as "Pong" for banana-smoothie rewards.
Pager played the games using a joystick that was disconnected from the games console, meaning he was controlling the cursor using his brain signals as his arm moved.
Elon Musk likes to boast Neuralink can let monkeys control computers with their brain signals, but neuroscientists don't see this as a big deal.
Elon Musk monkey Vachira Vachira/NurPhoto via Getty Images/Pool/Getty Images
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