Creating Art With The Mind | Neuralink

When I create my art, it makes me feel human. I'm a quadriplegic artist, and I create art with my mind. My name is Audrey. I was injured at the age of 16 in a car accident, and this is my life today. Before I was paralyzed, I was just a normal freshman, just the average kid. Adjusting to a new life, especially going from being able to do something yourself to doing nothing was devastating. In my mind, I could still do it, but I couldn't. And relying on somebody 24/7 does make you feel like a burden. I don't look at the past as, "Oh, I shoulda, coulda, wish this didn't happen. " Because if this wouldn't ever happen to me, I would not be the first woman in Neuralink study. And I think that is more important. Me, little me from a really small town, is making a difference for the future. I'm ready. Open link. Start calibration. How is this possible? I realized a whole different world being opened to me. Can I just have a little bit of this independence? Just think all of that you just did, you did that with your brain. I didn't think I would draw or paint ever again. I remember when I was able to first create something, my thought was I haven't written my name in 20 years. It felt like you just received a little piece of yourself back. Audrey now has a sense of purpose. She has a way to tell her story. When I'm moving that cursor, it makes me feel normal. That's me. That's part of my body. It doesn't matter if you like more or not cuz it's mine. I just need that moment in that day. What are you going to do? I just want to draw. What are you going to draw? It doesn't matter. This week the Neuralink team presented Audrey with the robotic arm. That's a limb that she hasn't had for 20 years. We're trying to give her the ability to become more independent in her everyday life and also express herself in her art. In my hand I can see the canvas. Okay, that's forward. Going from digital control to robotic control was very surreal because it felt like my arm. It makes me feel good that I was just able to put paint on a canvas physically. Just think of the people that's going to be able to have this access when they first become paralyzed. — Yeah. You know, they won't have to go through the mental anguish that I've been through for 21 years. Okay, baby, don't crack up. It's okay. Pioneers like Audrey allow us to keep advancing the frontiers of research. We think that there's so many more discoveries we can make and I'm really excited to see how many people's lives we're going to be able to enrich and improve. I am honored to be the first woman to take this step. Just being part of this and knowing that it's going to help others, I can't wait to see what the future's going to be like. You may not have the exact life that you want, but you can still take the life that you were given — and make it into something beautiful.