How Apple wants to let Vision Pro, iPhone and co. "read minds"
So-called brain-computer interfaces have been around for several years. The US company Synchron works with special technology – and cooperates with Apple.
Synchron's BCI: projects with Apple for some time now.
(Image: Synchron)
People who have limited control over their musculoskeletal system due to illness or injury are increasingly being helped by so-called BCIs. Brain-computer interfaces make it possible to control computers with the brain by measuring the activity of neurons using electrodes. There has been astonishing progress in this area recently. One well-known provider, the US company Synchron, which has been working on this technology for years, would like to work closely with Apple in the future. The idea: devices such as the Vision Pro, the iPhone or the iPad are to be controlled completely contact-free by thought alone.
Helping tens of thousands of people
As the Wall Street Journal reports, Apple itself is active in this field. In connection with new accessibility features planned for iOS 19 and macOS 16, BCIs are also to be better connected. Apple intends to enable people to control their iPhones via neural signals that are recorded by a new generation of brain implants. According to the Wall Street Journal, this could make Apple devices accessible to tens of thousands of people who can no longer use their hands due to severe spinal cord injuries or diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Synchron's BCI is quite special: it is inserted into the brain via a stent and is said to be so fine that there is significantly less proliferation or subsequent signal interference than with conventional electrodes. "We enter the brain via the blood vessels, via the jugular vein, and then reach a place called the superior sagittal sinus, which runs along the top of the brain. There we can pick up signals with a very special electrode arrangement, the so-called stentrode," Synchron manager Kurt Haggstrom told heise online.
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New standard for BCI signals
There is currently still a lack of standardized interfaces for connecting BCIs to computers, tablets and smartphones. Apple now wants to cooperate with Synchron on this. Similar developments from over ten years ago, when Apple defined a Bluetooth interface for communication between hearing aids and iPhones, serve as a model. Tests have already shown how a Vision Pro can be controlled using BCI.
Synchronous technology can be used to navigate screens, select icons and much more. Apple uses what is known as switch control, which already helps people with limited motor skills to control iPhones and other devices, only in this case the brain is the switch.
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