A Reddit user has been almost completely paralyzed for many years due to a car accident. However, he has not given up and has now released a video showing how he controls Final Fantasy XIV just with his brain.
Who is BCIcanDoBetter? The real name of the Reddit user is Nathan, and he has been almost completely paralyzed since a serious car accident in 2004. As a big fan of Japanese pop culture, especially robots and cyborgs, he decided to participate in the “Brain Computer Interface” research at the University of Pittsburgh.
Over the years, he has worked with many different types of brain implants. The latest one allowed him to control the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV purely through his brain.
How does brain control work? In the Reddit thread, Nathan explained that the control works through four rows of microelectrodes. They measure activity in specific regions of his brain responsible for motor movements and transmit the signals to the PC, where they are translated.
Movement is controlled by my thinking about how I move my right arm left, right, up, and down. The two buttons were controlled by my thinking about the movement of my wrist.
Nathan
In the video, you can see Nathan controlling his level 1 gladiator through one of the starting areas of Final Fantasy XIV and killing some monsters. Even though Nathan is an experienced FFXIV player, it seems that the beginning is a bit difficult for him as he tries this type of control for the first time. The scientists also did not warn him, the test was meant to be a surprise.
Nevertheless, the control was surprisingly intuitive according to a comment from Nathan:
The control was fluid and precise. I originally played the beta of “A Realm Reborn” and a few years after the release. I do have enough control over my arms to play with the keyboard, but severe pain in my shoulders and neck has been preventing me from playing lately. This is the first time I am using BCI [brain control] while playing.
Nathan
In theory, Nathan could freely move his character and operate up to 6 buttons with this type of control. He also mentioned that if the researchers inform him early enough next time, he would reactivate his own account and play with it.
During the test, he played his trial character that the researchers had created for him.
What do other players say? The community on Reddit and YouTube is absolutely thrilled with Nathan. Many players find it incredibly cool that he is participating in the research and, above all, that he has not given up despite his disability. He received many encouraging words and cheers from people.
Some have also offered to send him codes for the expansions Stormblood and Shadowbringers, as he does not have them yet. There were also suggestions to send the footage directly to the FFXIV development team.
Send this to the producer [Yoshida]. He will love it!
From SuicuneSol Sanbefore on YouTube
Such an action deserves to be seen by the developers. And maybe he would even get support from the FFXIV team.
