Last week, Elon Musk’s start up Neuralink unveiled its first project: the “N1 sensor,” a brain-machine interface (BMI). The device is an incredibly small computer system capable of measuring electrical signals through thread-like sensors inserted into the surface of the brain, and transmitting them through Bluetooth to a phone or computer. They claim this device will one day be capable of everything from allowing people who are quadriplegic to control their smart phone, writing new information into the brain, and creating the most immersive extended realities (XR) technology yet.
“So that could give a paralyzed person the ability to control, say for example, a 3D avatar that they could use for online gaming, or sports,” explained Philip Sabes, emeritus professor of physiology at UCSF and Neuralink scientist. “It could allow you control a range of assisted robotic devices. And ultimately, if and when the technology for spinal cord, nerve, or muscle stimulation gets far enough, ultimately it could be used to restore that individual’s control of their own body.”
The N1 could also be capable of giving new information to the brain, such as virtual sights, sounds, and even smells (unlike the way FeelReal currently handles XR smells), and XR corporations are very excited about this new step forward. Oculus CTO and programmer John Carmack recently visited the Neuralink offices, and called their work “very bold.” Valve’s resident experimental psychologist, Dr. Mike Ambinder, was more measured in his response: he believes the near future will include non invasive technology that behave somewhat similarly to the N1, called electroencephalogram (EEG) devices, which scan the brain from outside the head instead of inside. This would create more faster, more response XR, and is already being utilized by companies such as Neurable.
“There’s an incredible amount we can do to solve brain disorders and damage, and this will occur actually quite slowly,” said Musk. “And so I do want to emphasize that it’s not going to be like suddenly Neuralink will have this incredible Neural Lace and start taking over people’s brains. It will take a long time. And you’ll see it coming. Getting FDA approval of devices of any kind is very difficult, and this will be a slow process, where we will gradually increase the issues that we solve until ultimately [we achieve] a full brain-machine interface, meaning that we can […] achieve a sort of symbiosis with artificial intelligence.”
Technology such as this is reminiscent of yesterday’s article discussing how seniors with limited mobility are using virtual reality (VR) to travel. The future of XR technologies utilized for people with disabilities looks bright.
