Institute For The Future

"Walking" in Second Life

A Japanese team of researchers, led by Keio University biosciences and informatics professor Junichi Ushiba, has created a system that allows a paralyzed man to "walk" in Second Life.

Wired reports,

 

Researchers at Japan's Keio University have created an experimental headset designed to monitor brain waves that allowed a man who had been paralyzed for more than 30 years to control a Second Life avatar using only his thoughts.

 

 

Despite his condition, a progressive muscle disease that prevents him from using a keyboard or mouse, the new technology allowed him to control a character using the same set of brain impulses normally used to move a person's arms and legs.

 

APF adds,

 

In the experiment, he wore headgear with three electrodes monitoring brain waves related to his hands and legs. Even though he cannot move his legs, he imagined that his character was walking.

 

 

He was then able to have a conversation with the other character using an attached microphone, said the researchers at Japan's Keio University....

 

 

Researchers are now studying a system that would let patients create text messages by mentally selecting certain letters, said Junichi Ushiba, associate professor at the biosciences and informatics department of Keio Universty's Faculty of Science and Technology.

 

This might at first sound like only a stunt, or a build on the work of people like Miguel Nicolesis, but Ushiba argues that "Second Life could motivate patients with severe paralysis, who are often too depressed to undergo rehabilitation."