This Man Set the Record for Wearing a Brain-Computer Interface

Nathan Copeland considers himself a cyborg. The 36-year-old has lived with a brain-computer interface for more than seven years and three months. As of today--August 17--that's the longest anyone has had an implant like this. An electrode array the size of a pencil eraser, surgically installed in his motor cortex, translates his neural impulses into commands that allow him to control external devices: a computer, video games, and a robotic arm he can move with just his thoughts. A car accident in 2004 left Copeland paralyzed from the chest down, unable to move or feel his limbs.