Noland Arbaugh, Neuralink’s first human patient, has shared a video on X/Twitter that appears to show him playing Mario Kart 8 using just the Neuralink chip.
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Arbaugh is paralysed from the neck down due to a swimming accident. In the video, he praised the Neuralink chip’s ability to let him enjoy activities from before the accident, such as gaming. “Anything that makes me more independent I’m all for and this is probably going to make people like me the most independent that they might ever be until it all gets cured”, he said.
According to Bliss Chapman, Neuralink’s brain interface software lead, Arbaugh has wanted to play Beerio Kart, a drinking game where players have to finish a can of beer and a race in Mario Kart, without ever drinking while their car is in motion, as soon as possible.
“What you see is a dad and son playing Mario Kart—something I grew up doing all the time with my parents, something that I did a lot with my friends growing up”, Chapman said. “I just think the normalcy of it contrasted with the absolute absurdity of doing it using the BCI is something to just marvel at and take in and soak in for a second.”
Neuralink was kind enough to open their doors for me to tour their headquarters a few weeks back. It was an amazing experience and a day I'll never forget. This was at a company wide meeting at the end of the day. Thank you to everyone who made this possible. Hope y'all enjoy!… pic.twitter.com/YNa2Jtjhnk
— Noland Arbaugh (@ModdedQuad) March 22, 2024
Arbaugh said one of the first times he was able to truly let loose with the Neuralink, he stayed up until 6am playing Civilization 6. “It wasn’t feasible for me to play but now I can literally just lie in bed and play to my heart’s content. Honestly the biggest restriction at this point was having to wait for the implant to charge”, he said.
Neuralink isn’t the only way to play video games with one’s mind, however. One Skyrim modder adapted the VR version of the game to measure brain activity to determine whether or not you could cast spells.
In other news, a Sonic Heroes remake is reportedly being considered at SEGA.