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Thought-Controlled Planes Are One Step Closer


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A 55 year-old quadriplegic woman with electrodes implanted in her brain, having previously been able to control a robotic arm, has now been able to successfully fly an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter simulator, according to DARPA.

She has never flown an actual plane, nor is she trained to do so.

“Instead of thinking about controlling a joystick, which is what our ace pilots do when they’re driving this thing, Jan’s thinking about controlling the airplane directly,” Prabhakar said. “For someone who’s never flown — she’s not a pilot in real life — she’s flying that simulator directly from her neural signaling.”

Can we officially call her a cyborg now, or will we have to come up with a more PC term?

h/t Gallen_Dugall