Miguel Nicolelis explores the limits of the brain-machine interface.

Can we use our brains to directly control machines -- without requiring a body as the middleman? Miguel Nicolelis talks through an astonishing experiment, in which a clever monkey in the US learns to control a monkey avatar, and then a robot arm in Japan, purely with its thoughts. The research has big implications for quadraplegic people -- and maybe for all of us [1].

“ The impossible is just the possible that someone has not put enough effort to make it come true. ”  
― Miguel Nicolelis

Reference:
[1] http://www.ted.com/talks/miguel_nicolelis_a_monkey_that_controls_a_robot_with_its_thoughts_no_really.html