Brain-computer interfaces and disability: extending embodiment, reducing stigma?
Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) now enable an individual without limb function to "move" a detached mechanical arm to perform simple actions, such as feeding herself. This technology may eventually offer almost everyone a way to move objects at a distance, by exercising cognitive control of a mechanical device. At that point, BCIs may be seen less as an assistive technology for disabled people, and more as a tool, like the internet, which can benefit all users. We will argue that BCIs will have a significant but uncertain impact on attitudes toward disabilities and on norms of bodily form and function. It may be liberating, oppressive, or both. Its impact, we argue, will depend - though not in any simple way - on whether BCIs come to be seen as parts of the body itself or as external tools.
Department of Clinical Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Sean
S
Aas
Department of Clinical Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
David
D
Wasserman
D062207:Brain-Computer Interfaces; D003071:Cognition; D003210:Concept Formation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D057545:Social Stigma
Disability; Neuroethics