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Cortical Labs Shows Human Neuron Computer Playing Doom, Invites Developers

A CL1 chip with roughly 200,000 cultured neurons translates game video into electrical stimulation that yields control signals through an open API.

Overview

  • Cortical Labs released a demo showing about 200,000 living human neurons on a CL1 multi‑electrode array learning to play Doom.
  • The system converts on‑screen events into spatial patterns of electrical stimulation, with neural spikes decoded as actions such as moving or shooting.
  • Researchers say the cultures exhibit adaptive, goal‑directed behavior, though performance remains at a novice level rather than expert play.
  • Independent collaborator Sean Cole built the working Doom interface using the Cortical Labs API and reports training the setup in less than a week via the cloud platform.
  • The demonstration builds on an earlier Pong experiment and helped drive the creation of the Cortical Cloud for more complex training tasks.