Issue resolved? Musk's Neuralink No. 2 patient's abilities soar! Smoothly breaks records in CS 2, can still use CAD

The second implant recipient of Musk's brain-machine interface is here! Not only is he very smooth in playing CS 2, but he can also use CAD software for 3D design. This time, Neuralink carefully avoided the problem of electrode retraction, and everything is in good condition.

Alex, the second brain-machine interface implant recipient of Musk's Neuralink, has made a grand entrance!

After implanting the brain-machine interface, his gaming skills have skyrocketed.

Take the first-person shooter game CS that he likes to play, for example, this game requires a lot of inputs, including two independent joysticks (one for aiming, the other for moving) and a series of buttons.

Previously, if he wanted to play CS 2, he could only use the QuadStick mouth-operated controller, which only has one joystick. This limited his actions, either he could only move or only aim the weapon, but not both simultaneously.

However, now with the support of the brain-machine interface implant, he can aim and move at the same time! The gaming experience has become incredibly smooth.

Alex happily expressed, "Just running around, this experience is cool enough. I can look left and right directly, instead of needing to move the Quadstick. Wherever I look, I will go, this is so crazy!"

Seizing the opportunity, Musk made a bold declaration about the future—

If everything goes smoothly, there will be hundreds of people implanted with the Neuralink brain-machine interface within a few years, tens of thousands within 5 years, and millions within 10 years.

He even previously stated that he is willing to implant the chip into his own brain.

Enthusiastic fans have already called on Musk to sell Neuralink T-shirts.

Designing 3D Prints with CAD

Is the role of Neuralink limited to just playing games? Of course not.

On the second day after implanting the brain-machine interface, Alex directly used CAD software Fusion 360 to successfully design a custom bracket for his brain-machine interface!

Before his spinal cord injury, Alex was an automotive technician responsible for repairing various vehicles and large machinery.

Since then, he has always wanted to learn how to use CAD software to design 3D objects so that he can flexibly work on projects.

However, his level of control with assistive technology was not sufficient to achieve this.

But Neuralink made his dream come true.

Now, Neuralink is collaborating with Alex to increase his efficiency in using brain-machine interfaces by mapping expected movements to different types of mouse clicks.

This way, the number of controls he has will expand, allowing him to quickly switch between various modes in CAD, such as zooming, scrolling, panning, clicking and dragging, etc.

In his spare time, Alex continues to explore how to use CAD software to turn his design concepts into reality.

Neuralink also believes that over time, brain-machine interfaces will help more people create in fields they are interested in and passionate about.

Alex happily expressed, "Present an idea, turn it into a design, and then turn the physical object into a finished product. I'm back to creating things!"

Implanted with a brain-machine interface for a few hours, he broke records

After connecting the brain-machine interface to the computer, Alex started controlling the cursor with his mind in less than 5 minutes.

Within a few hours, he broke the Webgrid task record, surpassing the maximum speed and accuracy achieved by using any other assistive technology.

Similar to the first brain-machine interface implant recipient Noland, Alex broke the world record for brain-machine interface cursor control using non-Neuralink devices on the first day of implantation.

After the first study ended, he started playing CS. He said, "The principles of Neuralink left a deep impression on me."

The first person with a brain-machine interface, malfunctions resolved

Previously, the incident of the first brain-machine interface implant recipient malfunctioning caused a stir online.

Taking this opportunity, Neuralink also stated that the electrode retraction malfunction has been resolved.

Previously, The Wall Street Journal published an article reporting malfunctions that occurred with Neuralink. For example, connectivity issues caused the device to react slowly to the brain.

Furthermore, Neuralink also wrote in a blog post that in the weeks following Noland's surgery in January, some of the electrode threads embedded in his brain tissue began to retract from the tissue, rendering the device unusable.

However, Neuralink immediately stated that the incident has been remedied through a series of software fixes.

Why did this situation occur?

Industry experts suggest that the complications may have arisen because the threads were connected to the device inside the skull rather than on the surface of the brain.

Dr. Eric Leuthardt, a neurosurgeon at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, explained, "One thing that engineers and scientists may not have realized is how much the brain moves within the intracranial space "Just nodding or suddenly moving your head can cause disturbances of a few millimeters."

Matt Angle, CEO of Neuralink's competitor Paradromics, said that generally, surgeons would place brain implants directly on the top of brain tissue, where the implants would move like a small boat sailing on the water.

"For brain implants, electrode wire retraction is abnormal."

Before implanting the brain-machine interface into Noland, Neuralink extensively tested the device on animals.

However, one issue that Neuralink may have overlooked is that compared to humans, animals have relatively smaller brains, so the degree of electrode movement is also less than in humans.

Fortunately, Alex's electrodes have now stabilized, the performance of the brain-machine interface has been restored, and the world record for BCI cursor control has more than doubled.

To prevent Alex from experiencing a situation similar to Noland's, this time, Neuralink has taken many measures.

For example, reducing brain movement during surgery, as well as reducing the gap between the implant and the brain surface, and so on.

For this reason, Musk and the team have had detailed discussions.

Surprisingly, there has been no electrode retraction in Alex's interface so far.

Expectations for Neuralink

At the same time, the team stated that in order to further enhance participants' experience with digital devices, they will continue to expand the available controls.

They are working on decoding multiple clicks and simultaneous movement intentions to provide full mouse and video game controller functionality.

Furthermore, they are also developing algorithms to recognize handwriting intentions for faster text input.

People who cannot use their limbs may be able to use digital devices; those who cannot speak (such as ALS patients) may regain their communication abilities.

In the team's vision, Neuralink will interact with the real world, allowing users to eat independently and even control mechanical arms or wheelchairs to move independently.

Will this day come soon?

Author: Xin Zhiyuan, Source: Xin Zhiyuan, Original Title: "Has the Problem Been Solved? Musk's Brain-Machine Interface Patient No. 2's Abilities Soar! Smoothly Breaks CS 2 Record, Can Also Use CAD"