Apple will support control of its devices with brain implants - WSJ
Kyiv • UNN
Apple is working with Synchron on technology to control the iPhone via neural signals read by brain implants. This will provide access to devices for people with disabilities.
Apple is working with Synchron to develop technology that allows you to control your iPhone "with the power of thought" - that is, with the help of neural signals that are captured by the latest brain implants. This will give access to Apple devices to tens of thousands of people with disabilities. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal, writes UNN.
Details
The companies are cooperating on the development of an innovative solution - a stent-like device called Stentrode, which is implanted to read and convert brain signals into commands to control devices.
Mark Jackson, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), became one of the first participants in the implant trials. He is learning to control his iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro virtual reality glasses with the Stentrode implant. The device converts brain waves, allowing Mark to navigate the screen and select the icons he needs.
Yes, with the help of the implant and virtual reality glasses, Mark, who can no longer get out of his chair due to his illness, "visited" the top of a mountain in Switzerland. The sensations were so realistic that the man "felt a tremor in his legs."
The first Neuralink implant user has shown that they can move the cursor with the power of thought faster than some people can with a mouse. Their device, known as N1, reads much more brain data than Stentrode, as it has over 1,000 electrodes (Stentrode has only 16). In addition, the N1 electrodes are implanted directly into the brain, rather than placed above it. The data from the implant is converted into mouse clicks or keystrokes.
Synchron CEO Tom Oxley believes that modern brain-computer interfaces are limited to mimicking the operation of a mouse, and hopes for a new standard from Apple. The Stentrode device has already been implanted in ten patients since 2019, but the technology is still under development.
Apple and Synchron expect that in the future, their implants, as well as those of Elon Musk's competitor Neuralink, will be certified by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) by 2030.