Japanese Researchers Creating Cyborgs

Researchers at Osaka University in Japan aren't kidding around about cyborgs. They are looking into ways for robotic limbs to be controlled in real-time by the power of thought, and one such method is by performing invasive (or open-skull) surgery to place sensors directly onto the brain. Brain waves measured from outside the skull are read far less accurately than ones measured directly, so the researchers prefer for an electrode sheet to be placed onto the patient's gray matter. It wouldn't require puncturing the brain in any way — the sheet rests atop the central sulcus and allows scientists to record what happens when a subject moves an arm, a leg, a finger and so on. Bafflingly, a huge line of volunteers hasn't formed. Osaka University is hoping to work with patients already scheduled for open-head surgery, though the study currently has four volunteers. Researchers have been able to measure the intended actions of the four based on their brain waves with around 80% accuracy, and this system is the basis of how robotic limbs will be able to be controlled.