TOKYO, June 2, 2008 (AFP) A paralysed man using only his brain waves has been able to manipulate a virtual internet character, Japanese researchers said on Monday, calling it a worlds first.

The 41-year-old patient used his imagination to make his character take a walk and chat to another virtual person on the popular Second Life website. The patient, who has suffered paralysis for more than 30 years, can barely bend his fingers due to a progressive muscle disease.

In the experiment, he wore headgear with three electrodes monitoring brain waves related to his hands and legs. Even though he cannot move his legs, he imagined that his character was walking. He was then able to have a conversation with the other character using an attached microphone. It is the first time a paralysis patient has succeeded in meeting a person and having a conversation in an internet virtual world.

Researchers are now studying a system that would enable patients to create text messages by mentally selecting certain letters.

“In the near future, they would be able to stroll through Second Life shopping malls with their brain waves... and click to make a purchase,” Junichi Ushiba a professor at the biosciences and informatics department of Keio University's Faculty of Science and Technology said.

Second Life is an increasingly popular virtual world in which people are represented by animated avatars and do everything from social activities to shopping. Second Life could motivate patients with severe paralysis, who are often too depressed to undergo rehabilitation.