Some people claim that Second Life is an exponentially more self-indulgent, obnoxious version of The Sims. Maybe, but has anyone ever controlled a Sim with the power of their mind?!

According to Tokyo’s Associated Press, researchers at Japan’s Keio University conducted an experiment in which they attached headgear and three electrodes to a patient, monitoring brain waves that corresponded to the movement in his arms and legs. But this was no ordinary patient with free-range of movement. It was a 41year old man who suffers from a degenerative paralysis disorder, one that has rendered him incapable of moving his fingers and unable to control a mouse, let alone walk.

He was then introduced to the game Second Life. The researchers claim that the man was able to envision his character walking up to another character and conversing. This action caused his character to actually move, and using a microphone, he was able to converse with others.

They expressed that this was “the first time a paralysis patient has succeeded in meeting a person and having a conversation in an Internet virtual world.” Junichi Ushiba, associate professor at the biosciences and informatics department of Keio University’s Faculty of Science and Technology, adds that researchers are now studying a system of communication that allows a person to mentally select letters to form text messages. Ushiba claims that this, along with the Second Life study, could help to motivate paralysis victims who are otherwise too depressed or traumatized to undergo rehabilitation.

It is amazing that it’s taken this long for such an event to occur. Now that it has, the possibilities of this technology are endless.