A paralyzed man who came from Australia has tweeted the first-ever post made possible through his thoughts. The first “direct-thought tweet” was created thanks to the paperclip-sized brain chip.
According to a report from Tech Times on Monday, Dec. 27, the 62-year-old ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) patient has written the first tweet using only his brain through Synchron’s brain-computer interface. The startup which focuses on neurotechnology helped Philip O’Keefe to create the tweet.
According to the company CEO Thomas Oxley, there’s no need anymore for voices or keystrokes since a person can post a tweet just by using thought. “No need for keystrokes or voices. I created this tweet just by thinking it,” stated the tweet, which was posted to the account of Synchron CEO Thomas Oxley.
According to a report from the Independent, After sharing the initial tweet, Mr. O’Keefe posted seven further tweets replying to questions from Twitter users. “My hope is that I’m paving the way for people to tweet through thoughts,” the final one stated. The Stentrode device was first implanted in April 2020 after Mr. O’Keefe’s condition deteriorated to a point that he was unable to engage in work-related or other independent activities.
It was inserted through the jugular vein in order to avoid invasive brain surgery and has since allowed him to reconnect with loved ones and colleagues via email, as well as play simple computer-based, gamed like Solitaire “When I first heard about this technology, I knew how much independence it could give back to me,”
Mr. O’Keefe said after posting the tweet, according to a press release from Synchron. “The system is astonishing, it’s like learning to ride a bike – it takes practice, but once you’re rolling, it becomes natural. Now, I just think about where on the computer I want to click, and I can email, bank, shop, and now message the world via Twitter.”
