A man who can't move his hands used his thoughts to write on a computer screen. The man is paralyzed from the neck down. Scientists from Stanford University implanted two tiny sensors into the man's brain. The scientists called this "brain-to-text" and "mindwriting". The man wants to be anonymous, so scientists call him T5. He became paralyzed after a spinal cord injury ten years ago. The implants allow him to use his mind to write. He can write about 18 words per minute. This is five words slower than the average person writing a text message on a smartphone.
The mindwriting system is simple, but it uses a lot of advanced technology. Scientists asked T5 to imagine writing a sentence on a paper. Sensors in his brain detected activity as he imagined writing. A computer turned this activity into text on a screen. The scientists used a special algorithm. A researcher hopes his system will help millions of paralyzed people to write again. It might also help people who cannot speak. The researcher said: "The goal is to restore their ability to communicate by text." In the future, this technology might help us to write at the speed of thought.