Can VR games that require mental control benefit stroke patients?

A neurotech company called Cogitat is working to create a system that can convert brain activity into actions without requiring physical movement.

Simple virtual reality tasks can be completed by simply thinking about them while wearing a prototype headset. Thus, rather than squeezing your hands to move, you think about it in a game where handles control a VR jet ski.

A similar idea is being developed by Elon Musk's company, Neuralink.

One goal is to eventually enable remote control of phones or computers for those who have had a stroke or other types of brain injuries.

A chip must be implanted inside the brain for Neuralink's method to work. The company has received criticism for its treatment of animals because up until now, it has only worked with them. Videos showing a monkey playing Pong with his mind and a pig with a chip in its head have been made public by the organization, according to the claims made in the videos.

Cogitat is developing a headband for VR headsets, focusing on the tech behind it.

In order to make rehabilitation exercises for stroke patients more interesting, Allan Ponniah and Dimitrios Adamos have created a technology.

The two most crucial facts are that the prototype device was not reading the user's thoughts or peeping deeply into their soul, and that it is harder than it sounds to think about making a movement without actually doing it. Other businesses concentrate on various forms of brain activity, like visual signals that can be used to concentrate on a number and press buttons on a screen.

Within the next 12 months, Cogitat expects to have a working prototype of its technology, but since brain activity is still being studied, this timeline may need to be adjusted. Cogitat, which took first place in a global machine-learning competition, is honing its technology using a database of hundreds of volunteers who have been testing it out.