'We're already living in sci-fi': the neurotech revolution

From translating thoughts into words to allowing paralysed people to walk, the field of neurotechnology has been quietly surging ahead, raising hopes of medical breakthroughs - and profound ethical concerns.

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Some observers even think that neurotech could end up being as revolutionary as the far more hyped rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

"People do not realise how much we're already living in science fiction," King’s College London researcher Anne Van-hoestenberghe said.

The scientist leads a laboratory developing electronic devices which are implanted into a person’s nervous system — not just the brain, but also the spinal cord, that transmits signals to the rest of the body.

It has been a big couple of years for neurotech research. In June, Californian scientists revealed that a brain implant they developed could translate the thoughts of a man with the neurodegenerative disease ALS into words almost instantly, in just one-fortieth of a second.

Swiss researchers, meanwhile, have enabled several paralysed people to regain significant control of their body — including walking again - by implanting electrodes into their spinal cords.