Synchron, a company specializing in neural interface technologies, has developed a system that allows you to control a smart home platform using mental commands. The user can turn on the lights in their home, see a guest standing at the door through the camera, and select a viewing program on TV – without using hands or voice commands.
Image source: Synchron
The interface created by Synchron translates the user’s brain activity into commands transmitted to the Amazon Alexa service. The virtual assistant works on the user’s tablet connected to smart home devices. A patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis agreed to test the system – with this disease, he cannot use his hands, so he gives mental commands to navigate through the options of the smart home system and uses them.
The commands are read using a Stentrode component, which is embedded in a blood vessel on the surface of the brain – it contains electrodes that detect motor commands. Synchron’s technology has an important advantage over Neuralink’s solutions – the former’s components are implanted through the jugular vein without the need to hide the skull, and they can remain in place indefinitely. However, most alternative solutions need to be removed after some time.
Synchron components have already been implanted in ten volunteers, while Neuralink announced the installation of its chip in only the second patient. At the same time, Neuralink implants are more powerful – they are equipped with 1024 electrodes to capture more brain signals to perform more complex operations. Synchron components have 16-electrode arrays and are designed for more specific applications with custom-designed interfaces.
Previously, Synchron, which was supported by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, reported that it had integrated its component with the Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset – the device is controlled using eye movements and mental commands. Unfortunately, a significant amount of work will still need to be done before the technology is brought to market: American regulations require many years of testing before commercial launch.