Technology Quarterly | Mind over matter

What does a brain-computer interface feel like?

Talking to Philip O’Keefe about the implant in his head

Philip o’keefe, a 62-year-old logistics worker and passionate fan of the Brisbane Lions, a local football team, also suffers from als, which has paralysed him. In 2020 a “stentrode” was inserted into a blood vessel in his brain from where it monitors activity in part of his cortex. The following year he used signals passed through that probe to send his first tweet: “hello, world! Short tweet. Monumental progress.” The Economist talked to him about the experience.

This article appeared in the Technology Quarterly section of the print edition under the headline “Mind over matter”

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