Scott Mackler, a paralyzed man with the inability to move any of his limbs, had lost the will to live. Then scientists tested a BCI (brain computer interface) device on Scott, giving him the ability to think of words and have them appear on a computer. Scott can now e-mail friends and family, text message them, surf the Internet and even continue his research. Marc Merger was paralyzed from the waist down, but has since regained the ability to walk with a walker thanks to his BCI implant.

However, this technology only works for patients who’ve been paralyzed at the spinal cord. The implant sends the electrical signal from the brain directly to the immobilized limb; the implant does the job of the spinal cord.

Scott Mackler’s BCI, on the other hand, interprets the signals from his brain to produce the text on the computer.

Both of these men were given these life-changing opportunities eight years ago. Who knows what kind of things have been discovered since then.

There are possible commercial uses of such things. Why use a keyboard when one can just think out sentences at a time? Why bother calling to someone from across the room when you could just as well open a thought-channel and share thoughts directly back and forth.

Someday we will. The science is there.