Scientists Added a Sense of Touch to a Mind-Controlled Robotic Arm

"Most people probably underestimate how much our sense of touch helps us navigate the world around us. New research has made it crystal clear after a robotic arm with the ability to feel was able to halve the time it took for the user to complete tasks.

In recent years, rapid advances in both robotics and neural interfaces have brought the dream of bionic limbs (like the one sported by Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies) within touching distance. In 2019, researchers even unveiled a robotic prosthetic arm with a sense of touch that the user could control with their thoughts alone.

But so far, these devices have typically relied on connecting to nerves and muscles in the patient’s residual upper arm. That has meant the devices don’t work for those who have been paralyzed or whose injuries have caused too much damage to those tissues.

That may be about to change, though. For the first time, researchers have allowed a patient to control a robotic arm using a direct connection to their brain while simultaneously receiving sensory information from the device. And by closing the loop, the patient was able to complete tasks in half the time compared to controlling the arm without any feedback..." Lire la suite