Apple is adding support for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS and currently testing the capability on several people.
BCIs are “an emerging technology that allows users to control their device without physical movement,” Apple says. It calls the new feature Switch Control.
Apple does not currently manufacture its own BCIs, like Elon Musk’s Neuralink. It’s working with Brooklyn-based startup Synchron, which implants in a vein above the brain’s motor cortex. Dubbed the Stentrode implant, it aims to interpret the intent of a user based on their brain signals, then relay that to the device’s operating system, and perform actions on the device without the person ever touching it.
Synchron has implanted Stentrode devices in 10 people since 2019, with a focus on those with severe disabilities that prevent movement and speech. One is Mark Jackson, who has ALS. He tells The Wall Street Journal he is learning how to control his iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro headset with his Stentrode implant. Another is Rodney, whose implant connects to an Apple Vision Pro and Nvidia Holoscan for AI computing. In the video below, he uses it to text, feed his dog, turn on a fan, activate lights, and tell a Roomba to start vacuuming.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated Synchron’s BCIs as “breakthrough devices.” Although BCIs are not yet available to the public, the FDA says they “have the potential to bring benefit to people with severe disabilities by increasing their ability to interact with their environment, and consequently, providing new independence in daily life.”
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Neuralink’s first patient, Noland Arbaugh, is a quadriplegic who has been using his implant to move a computer cursor and play the video game Civilization. In March, he reported having no side effects after one year.
There are some differences between Neuralink and Synchron’s approaches. For example, Neuralink inserts its tech directly into brain tissue, accessed by drilling a hole through the skull with a robotic arm. Synchron’s is inserted “into the brain via the blood vessels in a minimally invasive 2-hour procedure, similar to the insertion of stents in the heart,” the company says. “The implant is fully internalized with no wires coming out of the head or body.”
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Diagram of Stentrode implant (Credit: Synchron)
Apple’s BCI tech is still under development, and not perfect, patient Mark Jackson tells the Journal. The company hasn’t spelled out its long-term vision for BCIs, but its billions of customers worldwide could play a significant role in popularizing the technology.
Meanwhile, Neuralink says BCIs will help humans with disabilities in the short term, and in the long term give everyone “superpowers” and superintelligence by essentially merging with machines, Business Insider reports. That’s one form of “the Singularity” concept, which futurist Ray Kurzweil popularized and predicts will happen by 2045.
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