In a demonstration of “mind over matter,” a 69-year-old man with C4 AIS C spinal cord injury — whose remaining movement was largely restricted to low-amplitude muscle twitching — has piloted a virtual quadcopter merely by thinking about moving his paralyzed fingers. This achievement stems from an intracortical brain-computer interface (iBCI) primarily developed and tested at Stanford University through the BrainGate2 clinical trials program. One of the lead authors, Matthew S. Willsey, Ph.D., is now an assistant professor of neurosurgery and biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, as noted in a recent press release.
In 2016, two 96-channel microelectrode arrays were placed in the anatomically identified “hand knob” area of his left precentral gyrus, enabling real-time decoding of his neural signals to drive the drone’s maneuvers.
[Related: 5 neurotech trends to watch in 2025: From paralysis recovery to prosthetics that feel and beyond]These electrodes record neural signals when T5 attempts to move distinct groups of fingers. Using the 4D decoder, initially, “the mean acquisition time was 1.98 ± 0.05 s, target acquisition rate was 64 ± 4 targets/min, and 98.7% of trials were successfully completed.” After becoming more accustomed to the task in the final 4 blocks, performance improved to “1.58 ± 0.06 s (a target acquisition rate of 76 ± 2 targets/min), and 100% of trials were completed.”
To navigate the virtual quadcopter, each finger movement was mapped to a degree of freedom, with the system directly linking finger positions to velocity control. As Matthew S. Willsey explained in a press release,
“It takes the signals created in the motor cortex that occur simply when the participant tries to move their fingers and uses an artificial neural network to interpret what the intentions are to control virtual fingers in the simulation. Then we send a signal to control a virtual quadcopter.”
Addressing unmet needs and enhancing social inclusion
“More than 5 million people in the United States live with severe motor impairments.” “Although many basic needs of people with paralysis are being met, unmet needs for peer support, leisure activities, and sporting activities are reported, respectively, by 79%, 50%, and 63% of surveyed people with paralysis from spinal cord injury,” according to
the bioRxiv preprint.
For quadcopter performance comparison, the paper states: “Compared with a state-of-the-art electroencephalographic (EEG)-controlled quadcopter that navigated through 3.1 rings in 4 minutes, our system allowed navigation through or around 18 rings – at peak performance – in less than 3 minutes on a similar flight path, a more than sixfold increase in performance.”
From gaming to telepresence
“This approach shows promise for controlling multiple-DOF end-effectors, such as robotic fingers or digital interfaces for work, entertainment, and socialization.” By restoring fine motor control at the finger level, users might eventually type, play musical instruments, or operate sophisticated game controllers with greater dexterity. Researchers suggest it could also extend to social networking or remote work, offering new avenues for independence and engagement in daily life.
Toward clinical adoption
“Although high performance was achieved using this decoding system, potential improvements to increase the likelihood of clinical adoption include reducing the calibration times and increasing the robustness to neural instabilities.” Increasing electrode channel counts could further boost decoding accuracy — benefiting current applications like robotic arms or virtual finger controllers, and paving the way for new and more advanced use cases.
Ultimately, the feasibility of precise iBCI control may address significant unmet needs in leisure and social engagement for people with paralysis, underscoring its promise for real-world tasks like gaming, virtual reality, and online collaboration.
Fantastic work!
Awesome work! This is so encouraging. I had a burst fracture of the C1 ring 30 years ago and severed all the ligaments between C1 and C2 but was extremely lucky not to damage my spinal cord. Subsequently I’m fused from the occipital to C2. Years later I ran into issues with use and feeling in my right hand due to compression of the C7 and C8 nerves but after a foraminotomy of C6/C7 and C7/T1 I still have most of the use and feeling in my right hand but I really feel for all of those people who aren’t as lucky as me.
The work you’re doing is so very important to so many people. Thank you.
Excellent real world progress let’s hope they are able to multiply this quickly 🤗
Oddly, even though I am not paralyzed, I use thought to manipulate my fingers to control things. I just did it.
This is a forfront to telepathy, Well just the first documented in the media
Very interesting and frankly amazing. Are there companies working to develop BCI further. I’d like to follow them.