NextMind, a Human-Computer Interface (HCI) startup that recently acquired by Snap, produces technologies that allow users to communicate with machines without spoken or written commands.
Beyond HCI, the next epoch of development will see the rise of brain computer interface (BCI) technologies where no gestures are required. NextMind’s latest innovations include a controller that can read brain signals, allowing enterprises to enable gestureless communication between users and their digital environments, machines, and even brain signals as a trigger for events.
What is BCI?
Brain-computer interface (BCI) is described as a link between the human brain and a technology that allows brain impulses to control external activities, such as cursor movement or prosthetic limbs.
The BCI interface creates a direct line of communication between the brain and device. Regarding cursor control, the signal is transferred straight from the brain to the controlling mechanism, bypassing the body’s neuromuscular system. The technology is more advanced than electromyography, since the brain signal or human impulse does not have to travel to limbs.
How Does BCI Work?
There are now BCI systems currently in pilot phase that can convert brain activity into readable signals. This implies brain activity can be evaluated and capable of operating a distant device using brain activity.
Thoughts are relayed from the brain to the body as a sequence of electrical impulses. As a method for diagnosing nerve issues, clinicians use electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) to examine electrical activities in the brain and muscles, respectively. In medicine, EEG and EMG are used to diagnose illnesses and other nerve issues by searching for abnormal electrical activity in a patient’s nervous system.
Now, researchers and enterprises are researching whether those electrical impulses could be linked to events and actions rather than only insights.
A good example of how BCI works is via ongoing research by Meta Platforms. The company’s BCI operations started in 2019 when it bought CTRL Labs for an unspecified value between $500 million and $1 billion.
Meta examines BCIs from two distinct viewpoints. It is collaborating with scientists to convert thoughts to speech, and its purchase of CTRL Labs might help decipher a person’s intended motions from their brain impulses alone.
Types of BCI (Brain Computer Interface) Interfaces
BCI interfaces largely comprise three categories:
1. Invasive BCIs – In invasive BCI, electrodes are surgically implanted beneath the scalp to relay brain signals. The primary benefit is a more accurate reading, while the disadvantages include surgery-related side effects.
2. Partially invasive BCIs – Partially invasive BCI devices are inserted into the skull but rest outside the grey matter, as opposed to within it. They create signals with a higher resolution than non-invasive BCIs, in which cranial bone tissue deflects and deforms signals, and have a reduced risk of causing scar tissue growth in the brain as compared to fully invasive BCIs.
3. Non-invasive BCIs – Recent BCI research have focused on non-invasive EEG-based BCIs, which are used for a wider range of applications, are simple to wear, and do not need surgery.
How Can Enterprises Benefit from BCI?
There are several business and industrial applications for BCI technology:
Serious Gaming
Serious gaming refers to the use of game technology to solve non-gaming problems. BCI software may “translate” mental instructions derived from EEG data into video game commands. In BCI gaming, players manipulate virtual objects while wearing an EEG headset and playing VR games.
Subjects also employs mental instructions to allow movement-based activities in the game, such as “push,” “pull,” and “jump,” rather than a standard game controller. BCI systems interpret brain signals from the EEG and activate the matching VR game activity. BCI.GAMES is using this technology to build accessibility-focused gaming experiences, while pre-BCI game Brain Invaders already exists in prototype form.
Worker Safety and Wellbeing
Another use for BCIs in the workplace is employee interactions with machinery and equipment. The most ‘hazardous’ vocations of the future may necessitate the usage of BCIs. For instance, several organizations have previously used EEG to assess tendencies of drowsy driving.
Companies with employees using risky equipment may need similar monitoring. BCIs may detect a worker’s mental state and alter adjacent gadgets appropriately, such as activating the ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode on a collaboration platform.
Cybersecurity
Passthoughts are being tested as a substitute to passwords by researchers. Soon, people may be able to log into gadgets and platforms using just their thoughts.
When humans conduct mental activities such as imagining a form or singing songs in their thoughts, their brains produce distinct electrical neural impulses. One billion individuals could mentally hum the same tune, and no two brainwave patterns would be identical. Electrodes that capture signals can interpret these brain waves using an EEG to serve as passwords or biometric identification.
Early advancements in BCI implementations, however, will take place in the healthcare sector. For instance, a new partnership between Blackrock Neurotech, an implantable brain tech company and the University of Pittsburgh’s Rehab Neural Engineering Labs (Pitt RNEL), will make BCI studies more accessible to a wider number of patients, paving the way for the future.
