Recent Breakthrough in Brain-Computer Interface Technology Shows Great Potentials in Application, Research Finds. Humans Can Now Interact with the Surroundings Just by Thinking.
By Sida Lai in Week 9
The 2014 remake of “RoboCop“ envisions a near future where human brains could control and live in robotic limbs. This fantasy of a cyborg, a half organic and half robotic being, may soon come true.
Recent research led by Elon Musk indicates the great potentials of the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) in applications. The latest technological breakthrough has made the science-fiction dream of controlling one’s surroundings through thoughts the new reality.
But what is BCI, and how does it work?
In human brains, over 100 billion neurons serve as the fundamental units of the nervous system. Neurons are responsible for receiving sensory information from the external world. And they emit electrical and chemical signals to command the muscles in response. Simply put, their activity controls how we feel and physically act.
BCI could decode and encode these signals. It is a direct two-way communication channel between an enhanced or wired brain and an outside device. In short, BCI captures, analyzes, and translates the living brain’s neuronal activity into commands that control external devices beyond muscles. Conversely, it could also generate and modify outside signals to stimulate sensory responses as biological feedbacks.
The history of BCI development traces back to research on monkeys in the 1960s. However, Neuralink, the neuro-technology company co-founded by Elon Musk, has introduced a new phase in recent years. The company is designing the first neural implant that inserts micron-scale threads containing electrodes into the brain. Unlike many previous BCI devices that require hard wires and plenty of auxiliary tools on-site, the Neuralink implant is small, simple, portable, convenient, and wireless.
The rechargeable implant could connect brains to external devices like Smart Home technology. It serves as a channel to process and transmit neural signals as commands for devices to carry out desired actions. This enables individuals with Neuralink to control tools like phones and keyboards simply by thinking. The company’s recent breakthrough shows how a monkey with the bran chip could play video games without joysticks through only its mind.
The BCI technology, however, has greater potentials beyond interacting with the environment. Researchers indicate its life-changing impacts, particularly on the health domain for severely disabled people. BCI could also help people with a wide range of clinical disorders by restoring patients’ sensory and physical functions. Paralyzed people could walk by controlling an exoskeleton. Minimally conscious individuals could speak through computers. And all these could be done simply by thinking with a BCI device.
BCI progress in recent years indicates a promising prospect. Researchers suggest the technology could be integrated with Artificial Intelligence to further enhance its data-processing capacity. The future of interacting with the environment through brains is quickly becoming a reality.
