Shaheer Ahmed
The Brain-Computer Interface, or BCI, tries to adapt and make life easier for people with disabilities. On December 23, we recently received a tweet by Philip O’Keefe, which was done only by his thoughts. Philip just thought about it, and it was tweeted. Here is the tweet.
no need for keystrokes or voices. I created this tweet just by thinking it. #helloworldbci
— Thomas Oxley (@tomoxl) December 23, 2021
This is exceptionally fascinating, right?
Brain Interface Technology
The world of technology is constantly making breakthroughs and coming up with ideas that seem too good to be true. This micro-chip, Synchron, is one of these. BCI technology, while still new, is an up-and-coming concept. It aims to help and provide mobility to people with neurological disorders. The subsequent testing trials are for Parkinson’s Disease.
The patient, Philip, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or commonly known as ALS. This neurodegenerative disease results in progressive loss of motor neurons, ultimately leading to complete paralysis. He was implanted with the chip in April 2020 and said that the experience was learning to navigate through the chip is like learning how to ride a bike. It takes time and effort, like all other things.
Strentrode
What is impressive about this is that it does not even require any surgery, and the implanting of the chip – Strentrode can be done quickly via the jugular veins. With this chip, Philip just has to think about what he wants to do – for example, while writing an email, he needs to imagine where he wants to click, and it will be done.
Through this technology, Philip, on December 23, for half an hour, talked to people via tweets. He used the account of Thomas Oxley.
Elon Musk, as always, wants to use this technology and has said that he will further elaborate the program and expand it to make the human experience more enjoyable and accessible for people. He also wants to introduce his own BCI chip in late 2022.
Be that as it may, this technology is undoubtedly beneficial and may change how we observe and operate. We wish Philip all the best!
