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AI's Next Frontier: Are Brain-Computer Interfaces The Future Of Communication?

The human brain is the most complex and powerful computer in the world - and, as far as we know, the universe. Today’s most sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are only just beginning to offer a partial simulation of a very limited number of the brain’s functions. AI is, however, much faster when it comes to certain operations like mathematics and language. This means it comes as no surprise that a great deal of thought and research has gone into combining the two. The idea is to use AI to better understand the workings of the brain and eventually create more accurate simulations of it. One day, it may also help us to create systems with the complexity and diversity of capabilities…

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 Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI), Explained

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are devices that create a direct communication pathway between a brain’s electrical activity and an external output. Their sensors capture electrophysiological signals transmitted between the brain’s neurons and relay that information to an external source, like a computer, mobile device or robotic limb, which essentially lets a person turn their thoughts into actions.

Articles of Interest

A New Path to Noninvasive Brain-Computer Interface

Controlling a computer with your mind was once pure science fiction, but it’s now plausible thanks to brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. Today’s BCI systems have achieved extraordinary advancements to control complex machines through thought, yet there is still one major obstacle — identification of a novel signal that can be recorded through your scalp and skull.

Brain-Computer Interfaces in Medicine

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) acquire brain signals, analyze them, and translate them into commands that are relayed to output devices that carry out desired actions. BCIs do not use normal neuromuscular output pathways. The main goal of BCI is to replace or restore useful function to people disabled by neuromuscular disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cerebral palsy, stroke, or spinal cord injury.

Coming to a Brain Near You: A Tiny Computer

There are dozens of so-called “neurotech” startups. Four lead the field of implants: Paradromics, Synchron, Precision Neuroscience and Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which in some ways is the most ambitious of the four. All but Paradromics have reached the point at which they are putting tech inside people’s heads. Each has its own approach, and all offer reasons they believe their product will come out ahead.

Designing Brain-Computer Interfaces That Connect Neurons to the Digital World

The term “brain computer interface” was coined in 1973 by Jacques Vidal, a computer scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who proposed that electrical signals in the brain might one day be used to control prosthetic devices. Researchers have since gone a long way toward realizing Vidal’s early vision. In 2003, a team at Duke University showed that monkeys implanted with microelectrode arrays could consciously control robotic arms. A year later, a young man named Matt Nagle became the first paralyzed person to benefit from BCI technology. A star athlete in his teens, Nagle had been injured during a knife attack that severed his spinal cord. But using a BCI, he could control a computer cursor and move a prosthetic hand.

Melding Mind and Machine: How Close Are We?

Researchers separate what’s science from what’s currently still fiction when it comes to brain-computer interfacing.

New Wearable Brain-Computer Interface

Micro-brain sensors placed between hair strands overcome traditional brain sensor limitations. Georgia Tech researchers have developed an almost imperceptible microstructure brain sensor to be inserted into the minuscule spaces between hair follicles and slightly under the skin. The sensor offers high-fidelity signals and makes the continuous use of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) in everyday life possible.

Progress in Brain Computer Interface: Challenges and Opportunities

The brain computer interface (BCI) is a direct and sometimes bidirectional communication tie-up between the brain and a computer or an external device, which involves no muscular stimulation. It has shown promise for rehabilitating subjects with motor impairments as well as for augmenting human working capacity either physically or cognitively

Science & Tech Spotlight: Brain-Computer Interfaces

Brain-computer interfaces allow people to control machines using their thoughts. The technology is still largely experimental, but its possibilities are vast. For example, it could help people with paralysis regain control of their limbs and enable servicemembers to operate a drone hands-free on the battlefield. Yet, creating a direct connection between brain and machine may raise concerns. For example, it could give users unfair advantages by enhancing physical and cognitive abilities. Also, hackers could steal data related to a person's brain signals.

Resources

21 neurotech companies working across brain-machine interfaces, neuroprosthetics, neuromonitoring, and neurostimulation devices

As the digital health sector matures from basic tracking apps into highly regulated medical devices, we are seeing bleeding edge technologies being developed that blur the lines between computers and biology. And a growing share of these startups are beginning to target the brain.

7 leading Brain-Computer Interface Companies and their current and prospective products

Many have said that the brain and mind are the final frontier of science. Indeed, very little is known about that gray mass of cells in our skull that plays an important role in cognition; regulation of heart, lung, and other systems and functions; movement, and more. With approximately 100 billion neural connections, our brains are capable of processing billions of bits of information per second. The latest trend in unlocking the mysteries of the mind is brain-computer interfaces.

Neuralink

Neuralink is currently seeking people with quadriplegia to participate in a groundbreaking investigational medical device clinical trial for our brain-computer interface. If you have quadriplegia and want to explore new ways of controlling your computer, please consider joining our Patient Registry.