[Quadriplegic Matthew] Nagle turned the TV on and off and switched channels (trapped in his hospital room, he's become a daytime-TV addict). Then he opened and read the messages in his dummy email program. "Now I'm at the point where I can bring the cursor just about anywhere," he said. "I can make it hover off to the side, not doing anything. When I first realized I could control it I said, 'Holy shit! I like this.'"

What are you thinking about when you move the cursor? I asked.

"For a while I was thinking about moving the mouse with my hand," Nagle replied. "Now, I just imagine moving the cursor from place to place." In other words, Nagle's brain has assimilated the system. The cursor is as much a part of his self as his arms and legs were.

[...]

At a conference in 2002, Anthony Tether, the director of Darpa, envisioned the military outcome of BCI research. "Imagine 25 years from now where old guys like me put on a pair of glasses or a helmet and open our eyes," Tether said. "Somewhere there will be a robot that will open its eyes, and we will be able to see what the robot sees. We will be able to remotely look down on a cave and think to ourselves, 'Let's go down there and kick some butt.' And the robots will respond, controlled by our thoughts. Imagine a warrior with the intellect of a human and the immortality of a machine."

LAWNMOWER MAN IN YOUR MIND NOW
- tom moody 2-28-2005 7:24 pm

I read that too. I love this guy. Big old rootin' tootin' 4x4 red-neck gets the first chip. Fire that sucker up and lets draw us a fuckin' circle, y'all. Ye-haw.

- joester 3-01-2005 9:34 am

Oh no. i've double posted.
- joester 3-01-2005 9:40 am

My favourite part of the story is that he is wearing a silicon membrane on his brain, as in under the skull.
- sally mckay 3-01-2005 7:06 pm

Just get em perfected for when I'm about to slip off this earth so my brain can live forever and RULE THE GALAXY!
I mean in a really nice way, lots of art funding and no childern soldiers.
- joester 3-01-2005 10:53 pm