In a spacious conference room, Chen Yiqing smiled and talked with the members of the project team.
"The test on one hand was successful. The brain-computer interface can collect his action intentions, convert them into specific neural patterns, and guide the prosthetic limb to make various movements."
"At the same time, our algorithm is constantly learning his ideas and optimizing."
"The more he trains on the brain-computer interface, the stronger his prosthetic limbs can move and the more precise his movements become, just like more practice can make you better at table tennis."
"But-" He changed his tone and sighed.
"This may be the limit of what we can do with paraplegics."
Wang Dali said in surprise: "Is this the limit? I feel like I haven't reached my limit yet?"
He gushed: "We have just made a bionic arm now, which is just a very simple one-handed mode. We can continue to make two bionic arms, so that patients can use two hands like normal people."
"Of course, I think if two hands are placed in a wheelchair, it may not be flexible enough. It should be made into an exoskeleton breastplate so that the patient can work with both hands with just a thought. In this case, it will be like a real arm. There’s no difference.”
"In addition, I think it would be good to make a full-body exoskeleton mecha. As long as a paralyzed patient is stuffed into it, he can control the mecha to walk, work, and even hug his relatives."
Chen Yiqing chuckled and said, "Dali, your ideals are very full, but the reality is very skinny."
"Our current brain-computer interface is based on visual behavioral feedback, which means that patients can only receive information input by looking."
“If you can’t see it, you don’t know the feedback, you don’t know what the results of the action will be, and you don’t know how to take the next step.”
"For example, if you are asked to pick up a glass of water on the table, an ordinary person can touch around on the table and finally touch the glass even if they close their eyes."
"Because each of your fingertips and every inch of skin on your hands is covered with dense pressure sensors. You can touch uneven or smooth desktops, and you can also touch obstacles on them, and then touch them out. shape, feed all the information back to the computer, and finally conclude, oh, I touched a cup on the table.”
"Not only that, but you can also feel the shape and material of the cup, as well as its weight."
"You only need to touch it lightly to know whether the cup is solid porcelain, a paper cup that is easily deformed, or even a stainless steel cup that can be dropped casually. You can also feel the temperature coming from the wall of the cup, whether it is warm water, hot water, Still ice water.”
"When all this information is put together and you already know all the relevant information about the cup, you will take different actions according to different situations. If it is a paper cup, you will be careful and not use too much force. If it is hot water, you will try to use You don’t hold the handle directly, but if it’s cold water, you just pick up the cup.”
“The moment you pick up the cup with your eyes closed, your hands feed back countless information to you, and your brain is like a supercomputer, giving you the best plan to hold the cup based on all the information it receives. "
“But it’s all based on feedback.”
"Without this feedback, your brain is like a blind person, unable to make any effective decisions."
“Think about what it would be like if you lost the sense of touch in your hands and could only provide visual feedback.”
"You look at the cup and know that it is a paper cup filled with water, then you will definitely be cautious. You will first try the smallest force to see if the paper cup will deform. If the paper cup will deform with the smallest force, you may Would give up picking it up."
"If there is no problem with the strength, ok, you can use this strength to lift it up. At the same time, your eyes are fixed on the cup, and you don't dare to be careless at all, for fear that if it is unstable, the water in the cup will overflow."
"During the whole process, you have to keep your eyes on the cup. Your brain cannot be distracted. You can only focus on this one thing."
“Once you shift your gaze and lose sight of the cup, you lose control of holding the cup.”
"Maybe the next second your strength will become stronger, the cup will be deformed, and the water will spill out."
"Or the next second your hand touches something else and your hand is fine, but the cup falls."
"This is the result of no information feedback. You can't react quickly, adjust in real time, and control this matter."
Wang Dali asked unconvincedly: "Then if we add a pressure sensor to the bionic arm, what about other sensors?"
Chen Yiqing smiled slightly: "That's a very good question."
"However, it is a pity that our brain-computer interface can currently only output information, but cannot input information."
"Don't worry, listen to me slowly. This is related to the method of brain-computer interface. Currently, only invasive brain-computer interface can input information to the brain."
"Non-invasive brain-computer interfaces, including the one we use, can only output information."
"The main reason is that the brain is so complex that controlling movement and sensing movement are not the same place."
"The brain controls movement through the motor cortex, but there are several cortices that sense movement."
“Visual feedback is a function of the motor cortex, while tactile feedback is a function of the sensory cortex.”
"Not only that, but if you involve two hands working together, things get even more complicated."
"Because the brain has a specialized control cortex for one side of the body, the right cerebral sensory cortex mainly controls the left side of the body, and the left sensory cortex controls the right side of the body."
"While we can decode or control a limb to make simple movements from either side of the brain, for complex tasks that require coordinated movement of both hands simultaneously, such as cutting food, both sides of the brain are used."
"Then it becomes more difficult to get information into the brain."
"Only by putting the corresponding brain sensing cortex into the electrode sensor can the feedback from the prosthetic limb be converted into electrical pulses and sent to the brain's neural tissue, allowing the brain to know how the cup feels when touched."
"It's just tactile feedback."
"Think about it, if you want to input olfactory, auditory, visual, and other information into the brain, how many operations will be performed on the brain? How many microelectrodes will be implanted?"
"Do you think our patients can accept such a change? Do you think the hospital can agree?"
As soon as these words came out, Wang Dali fell silent.
After a while, he smiled bitterly and said: "It's better to modify the monkey's brain and create a 3D virtual monkey mountain for the monkey."
“I finally understand why things like Planet of the Apes happen to gorillas.”
Chen Yiqing waved his hand and said: "The human brain is like a big lump of milk jelly. It is easy to implant microelectrodes, but it is also easy to be injured. If you put a bunch of things in, brain tissue damage and infection are inevitable. No one can do this. There’s no way to take responsibility.”
"So, until there is no breakthrough in material technology, there is no hope for virtual reality."
"However, you don't have to be discouraged." A sly smile appeared on Chen Yiqing's face.
"Although we can't directly output crazy information to the brain, we can input information to the brain indirectly."
"Oh, Director Chen, can you explain this clearly at once?" Wang Dali couldn't help complaining.
"Where does your problem of half-talking come from? This style is not popular in our company."
The smile on Chen Yiqing's face froze, and he almost lost control of his expression.
He usually gives too many lectures to his employees and children, and has long been accustomed to this kind of persuasive and slow-talking way of speaking. He never expected that he would be somewhat incompatible with Wang Dali, who likes to be straightforward.
He coughed twice quickly and said bluntly.
"Dali, in fact, the largest user group of bionic arms is the disabled. These patients have no problems with other parts of their bodies and their nervous systems. They just lack arms and legs."
"You are right, we can add a large number of pressure sensors to the prosthetic limb to convey tactile feedback to the patient's nervous system, thereby inputting information to the brain."
"In this way, the neurofeedback pathway from the brain to the prosthetic limb can be reconstructed, and the prosthetic limb can be perfectly controlled through neural electrical impulses to achieve a fake and real effect."
Wang Dali suddenly became excited: "Great, this is a project that allows me to show my talents."
Wen Renlong couldn't help but interjected: "So the brain-computer interface project is not going to be done? Just give up right away?"
"Old Chen, I never expected that you would also give up when encountering difficulties. It's really disappointing."
If someone else had said such words, Chen Yiqing would have twitched the corner of his mouth early in the morning. Although he wouldn't slap the table and curse, he would still have to retaliate.
But he had long been accustomed to Wen Renlong saying such things, and his tone didn't change at all, as if he hadn't heard it, and he explained with a smile.
"Aaron, it's not that we don't do anything anymore, it's that we've shifted our strategy."
"As you can see, non-invasive brain-computer interfaces can only go so far."
"Our brain-computer project has achieved very good results, and the product is also very successful. We just encountered insurmountable difficulties, so we have to do some side tasks first."
"When conditions are ripe, we will continue."
"This is scientific research. You never expect what difficulties and problems you will encounter. Only when you actually encounter them can you deal with them."
"But don't worry, I will not give up on these paralyzed patients. I will continue research in the neurological field and strive to find more effective ways to treat their diseases as soon as possible."
"At least for now, the patients' lives have greatly improved. They can do rehabilitation training and continue to improve their physical condition."
Wen Renlong nodded and said no more.
Wang Dali asked curiously: "Chen Bo, why don't we make an exoskeleton robot for rehabilitation?"
Chen Yiqing shook his head and answered simply: "I'm not interested. If you are interested, you can do it yourself."
"This..." Wang Dali choked immediately.
He suddenly remembered that the directors of Sanqing only worked on projects based on their interest, except for projects assigned by the boss himself.
If you are interested, just do it. If you are not interested, don't do it. It doesn't matter whether it makes money or how much money it can make. It has nothing to do with them.
The main theme is a free and uninhibited person who relies on a strong inner drive to pursue dreams.
Of course, you still have to care about cost and efficiency. This is your own responsibility and part of the success of the project.
But the big guys in Sanqing all have tempers and their own little persistence.
They are by no means wild dogs in the vanity fair. When they see a piece of fat, they swarm over it and compete for it.
Lao Chen usually behaves like a gentle and good man, and is successful in the worldly sense. He works step by step every day, which seems too reliable.
This makes it easy for people to misunderstand and ignore the stubbornness hidden deep in his heart.
But deep down, he and Wen Renlong are actually the same kind of people.
Sanqing people with free souls.
Wang Dali smiled brightly and felt relieved when he remembered that he was also a free and uninhibited Sanqing person.
He chuckled: "Chen Bo, judging from what you said, I actually have no interest in it. Rehabilitation robots are not as exciting as surgical robots and bionic prosthetics. I can't completely conquer the robot market by myself."
Chen Yiqing nodded, not paying much attention, and continued: "Then the robot is up to you."
"The preliminary plan is to establish a two-way neural-machine interface function, allowing patients to establish a neural pathway from the brain to the prosthetic limb through their own nervous system. It can not only drive the prosthetic limb to make real hand movements, but also transmit feedback signals along the The nerves are sent back to the brain.”
"In this way, they will make the same judgments, decisions, calculations and adjustments as a person without an amputation, and they will use the prosthesis as if they were using their missing natural hand."
"Generally speaking, these related brain behaviors are very different between people with and without prostheses. I can also conduct brain research at the same time to get a deeper understanding of neural signals and cerebral cortex activity, maybe It will inspire the development of non-invasive brain-computer interfaces."
"The specific plan is this. First, we need to add a large number of sensors to the prosthesis, including pressure sensors and motion sensors. Then we will summarize the feedback information from the sensors and convert it into nerve electrical pulse signals. This requires a nerve- Machine Interface.”
"Secondly, perform an operation to connect the patient's upper limb nerves to the nerve-machine interface, so that the action and feedback of the prosthetic limb can be fed back to the brain through the nervous system, and the motor nervous system and sensory nerve distribution of the missing limb can be reconstructed."
"It sounds very complicated, so it requires the joint efforts of the entire team. I hope everyone can continue their efforts."
"Bah bang bang!" Wang Dali clapped his hands: "It sounds great. I look forward to the day when disabled people can use the prosthetic limbs I made myself."
"By the way, I suggest that after finishing the bionic arm, we should continue to make the bionic leg. What do you think, Chen Bo?"
Chen Yiqing cast an approving look: "This is all part of the plan, just go ahead and do it boldly."
Wen Renlong also expressed high recognition: "Lao Chen, this project is exciting. If it is really realized, it will definitely change the world. I feel honored to be able to join such a project."
As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately raised eyebrows.
Everyone turned their heads and looked at him with strange eyes, as if trying to figure out what was wrong with him.
Wen Renlong glared and said angrily: "What are you looking at? In fact, I'm quite normal."
"Ah, yes, yes, you are normal."
Everyone said in unison, feeling relieved.
Sure enough, it still smells familiar.
The normal Wen Renlong is boring.
It's better not to be normal. As a spice to life, you have to have both the ups and downs, and that's enough.
(End of chapter)
