Researchers have taught monkeys to control virtual arms with their thoughts

Researchers at Duke University have trained two monkeys to direct the virtual hands of a monkey avatar on a computer screen using nothing but their thoughts.

Two monkeys, which were studied at the university’s Center for Neuroengineering, learned to direct the virtual hands of a monkey avatar on a computer screen without moving any part of their real bodies. Duke said it’s the first-ever two-way interaction between a primate brain and a virtual body, according to a release.