AFP: Paralysed man takes a walk in virtual world

AFP: Paralysed man takes a walk in virtual world

TOKYO (AFP) — A paralysed man using only his brain waves has been able to manipulate a virtual Internet character, Japanese researchers said Monday, calling it a world first.
The 41-year-old patient used his imagination to make his character take a walk and chat to another virtual person on the popular Second Life website.
The patient, who has suffered paralysis for more than 30 years, can barely bend his fingers due to a progressive muscle disease so cannot use a mouse or keyboard in the traditional way.
In the experiment, he wore headgear with three electrodes monitoring brain waves related to his hands and legs. Even though he cannot move his legs, he imagined that his character was walking.
He was then able to have a conversation with the other character using an attached microphone, said the researchers at Japan’s Keio University.
It is the first time a paralysis patient has succeeded in meeting a person and having a conversation in an Internet virtual world, they added.
Researchers are now studying a system that would let patients create text messages by mentally selecting certain letters, said Junichi Ushiba, associate professor at the biosciences and informatics department of Keio Universty’s Faculty of Science and Technology.
“In the near future, they would be able to stroll through Second Life shopping malls with their brain waves… and click to make a purchase,” Ushiba said.
Second Life is an increasingly popular virtual world in which people — and animals — are represented by animated avatars and do everything from social activities to shopping.
Ushiba says Second Life could motivate patients with severe paralysis, who are often too depressed to undergo rehabilitation.

Now that the mindless hype for SL is over, and people can get on with doing useful things there.

Classic Clips: Bill Gates Chews Out Microsoft Over XP

Check this whole thing out over at Gizmodo… it will just feeeeel right.

Classic Clips: Bill Gates Chews Out Microsoft Over XP

With Bill Gates saying good-bye to Microsoft this week, we’re realizing more by the day how much we’ll miss the guy. And when reading through the many interviews floating around this week, we came across this jewel from 2003. A leaked memo from Microsoft, it’s several pages of Gates just laying into his design and programming staff for—among other issues—his personal experience when trying to install Windows Moviemaker. And it’s a very fulfilling read if you’ve ever been frustrated by a Microsoft product.

From: Bill Gates
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 10:05 AM
To: Jim Allchin
Cc: Chris Jones (WINDOWS); Bharat Shah (NT); Joe Peterson; Will Poole; Brian Valentine; Anoop Gupta (RESEARCH)
Subject: Windows Usability Systematic degradation flame

QESBA Blue-ribbon task force reports on Internet in schools

The The Quebec English School Boards Association announced:

QESBA Blue-ribbon task force reports on Internet in schools:
Time for educators, government and media to shift focus from “threat” to “opportunity”
Montreal, June 2, 2008 - A major study into the impact and potential of the Internet on English public schools in Quebec has called on educators, government and the media to shift the focus from “threat” to opportunity”. The Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA) commissioned the report, produced by a blue-ribbon task force of outside experts, Internet practitioners, health practitioners, students and law-enforcement officials. The Task Force was chaired by Dr. Claude Lajeunesse, President and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada and former President of Concordia and Ryerson Universities and benefited from the active participation of Dr. Shaheen Shariff, one of Canada’s recognized experts on cyber-bullying.

You can read the whole report here.