Apple has worked on a new standard with Synchron on a brain-computer interface that, among other things, aids folks with disabilities, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Synchron has made a brain-computer interfaces “e designed to enable people to use their thoughts to control a digital device. Join our online community for more information and future trial opportunities.” The company makes a stent-like device that is implanted in a vein atop the brain’s motor cortex.
The Stenrode device has electrodes that read brain signals. It translates the signals into selecting icons on a screen. The WSJ notes that Apple took a similar step in 2014 when it launched a technology standard for hearing aids to communicate with iPhones via Bluetooth, a standard most hearing aids have since adopted.
The Synchron device — still a long ways from being generally available — effectively translates brain waves, allowing a user to navigate around a screen and select an icon. It works with a feature inside Apple’s operating system called switch control, which literally switches control to a new input device like a joystick, or in this case a brain implant.
It allows control a user to control an iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro thanks to a connection between the Stentrode implant and Apple’s various operating systems.
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