Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Researchers Devise Neural Implant That Learns Over Time

by Darren Murph on June 29, 2008 at 10:12 AM


Brain-machine interfaces have done quite a bit in helping handicapped individuals interact with prosthetic limbs, computers and other humans, but a new neural implant concocted at the University of Florida could make all those past devices look archaic.

Put simply, researchers have discovered a method that would enable brain-machine interfaces to "adapt to a person's behavior over time and use the knowledge to help complete a task more efficiently." Until now, the brain was the instrument doing all the talking while the computer simply accepted commands; with this method, "the computer could have a say in that conversation, too."

In all seriousness, this type of learning mechanism could be game-changing in the world of physical therapy, but we hesitate to give something mechanical inside of our body too much free will, ya dig? [Source: University of Florida News via Physorg]

Tags: BCI, brain, brain-computer interface, Brain-computerInterface, brain-machine interface, Brain-machineInterface, florida, handicap, handicapped, mind, paralyzed, prosthetic, prosthetics, research, science, University, University of florida, UniversityOfFlorida

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular