Bradford Smith, an ALS patient, prepares for Neuralink surgery in his final days before the procedure. He currently uses infrared eye-gaze tracking to control his computer and hopes the implant will let him move a cursor without straining his eyes constantly. The team walks through positioning, lighting, and calibration details for the operation.
They're here. Neuralink is here. Welcome back.
Yeah, how you guys doing?
Good. I've got Brad upstairs. Let's start upstairs, then he can give feedback.
Yeah, with the— in the bed setting.
Um, Brad, I'm gonna move you back. And do you want me to put the curtain up so you have less of that light? I'm gonna get rid of this.
Yeah, so right now for Brad to communicate, he uses eye gaze. So that means he looks at the computer, there's a tracker that uses infrared to bounce a signal off the back of his retina and back. So he can look at a specific spot, and if he looks long enough, then it clicks. So he can look there and click.
Hi, my name is Bradford Smith. I usually go by Brad. I also answer to "Hey ya cripple" and I have been called much worse things. I have been living with ALS for 6 years now.
It seems like he's having a hard time calibrating right now, so...
ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells that control voluntary muscles. "I am so excited for the implant because I hope to control the computer without my eyes. I want to move my cursor without looking at it constantly. I want to click and drag. I want to scroll and read at the same time." Do you know how hard those simple things are with eye gaze? I hope you never have to find out. And, if Neuralink succeeds, maybe nobody will have to learn that again.
