Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Paralyzed Man Takes a Walk in a 3D Virtual World

3Dwalkthroughs.com just came across a feel good story about a paralyzed man that was able to use a Brain Controlled Interface to take a walk in the 3D Virtual World Second Life.

Researchers led by Jun'ichi Ushiba of the Keio University created a brain-computer interface (BCI) that let the 41-year-old patient operate a PC using only his thoughts.

Previous BCI studies have had patients simply move cursors around a display. Ushiba took it further by letting the unnamed patient, crippled by a progressive muscle condition for most of his life, take control of an avatar, or virtual person, in the popular online environment.

The youtube video of this technology in action can be seen here>>

Source: Foxnews.com

The implications of this technology are amazing. Giving paralyzed individuals the ability to move around freely, albeit in a 3D virtual environment, is a very good demonstration of a "Real Life" positive benefit that can be derived from 3D virtual world platforms. We will check back to stay on top of any future developments of this amazing BCI technology.

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