Dr. Brett Kagan

Brain Cells Playing Pong Live! Synthetic Bio Intelligence

Case: Human brain cells connect and transfer information through electrical signals, which then decide the movement of every part of our human body. However, once outside of the complex workings of the human body, could in-vitro brain cells on their own be capable of performing a similar function? Moreover, would they be able to improve their performance when feedback is provided? In the Puzzle X 2022 event, Hon Wang explains with a few slides, how their research firm Cortical Labs has cultivated in vitro human brain cells in a chip and connected them to a multi electronic array. In order to explore their abilities they wanted to see if they could teach them to play Pong (a very simple pac man era video game). This multi-electronic array works as a bridge for the electronic signals between the cells and the computer game simulation. They have performed many tests on in-vitro human cells, but during this public event they attempt the first live connection between the in-vitro cells (in Australia) and the game simulation PC (in Barcelona). It demonstrates how the cells interact with the multi electronic array and give indications of the paddle movement. The cells may not have a 100% rate of winning, but who does? How could this advancement in knowledge of the capabilities of human brain cells help in medicine? What could this wide open field in science mean for humanity? The future is yet uncertain but the speculations are really exciting!