Neurotech startup Synchron today announced it has successfully connected its brain implant to the Apple Vision Pro headset. Synchron’s brain-computer interface (BCI) is designed to help paralyzed patients control technological devices with their minds. To date, the company has implanted BCIs in six patients in the US and four in Australia.
Image source: Synchron
Users typically control the Apple Vision Pro AR headset using eye movements, voice commands, and hand gestures. Synchron has made the headset available to patients who cannot speak or move their upper limbs. According to Synchron CEO Thomas Oxley, Apple’s platform is “best in class,” which is why the company initially developed the interface specifically for the Apple ecosystem. In the future, the company plans to connect its BCI to headsets from other manufacturers.
Apple has been “very supportive” of the Vision Pro integration, Oxley said. “I think BCI is very well positioned to bring enormous value through synergistic integration into the Apple ecosystem,” he added.
Synchron’s BCI is administered through the patient’s jugular vein, so open-brain surgery is not required. The device is delivered to a blood vessel located on the surface of the motor cortex of the brain. An antenna located under the skin in the chest area collects raw brain data and sends it to external devices.
Patient Mark, 64, pioneered Synchron’s use of the Vision Pro headset. Mark, whose last name the company does not disclose for privacy reasons, was implanted with BCI Synchron in August 2023. He has a degenerative disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which causes patients to gradually lose control of their muscles. Since his diagnosis in January 2021, Mark has lost muscle function in his shoulders, arms and hands, but is still able to speak and walk short distances.
Mark works with Synchron for two hours twice a week to practice various skills and functions of his BCI. He said he has been testing the Vision Pro periodically since April and can use it to send text messages, play solitaire and watch TV. Using BCI to control a headset is not much different from using it to control an iPhone, iPad and computer, he said. Some headset applications are more limited and complex than others, and he’s still experimenting with new ways to use them.
«For me, this is just another chance to gain some independence,” says Mark. “It’s actually amazing.” He can no longer use his hands to draw, so he learns to use Vision Pro to create images. He also enjoys using an app that allows him to study celestial constellations. Mark’s neck muscles are starting to fail, but so far he can use the headset for two hours without getting tired or experiencing motion sickness.
Synchron is preparing for a larger clinical trial involving more patients, and Mark said he hopes his work with the headset will improve the experience for others. According to Oxley, “This is the beginning of a new therapeutic option for restoring the ability to use the digital technologies we take for granted.”
Synchron is part of the increasingly competitive brain implant industry, where companies such as Paradromics, Precision Neuroscience, Blackrock Neurotech and Neuralink compete, although their goals, projects and ambitions are markedly different. Further commercialization of Synchron’s new technology requires approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).