Scientists are looking to the future of new and more accurate wearable computers to analyze brain activity, diagnose health problems and even increase productivity.
These brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) decode the electrical activity in the brain that underlies normal human behavior and provide feedback on that brain activity, enabling users to recognize patterns associated with increased attention and productivity.
Tech titans, including Elon Musk and his brain interface startup Neuralink, have poured billions of dollars into developing wearable and implantable brain chips that can do everything from alert people to impending burnout in paralyzed patients, help control their thoughts and translate them into actions performed by machines.
Wearable technology is already on the market, but it is mostly focused on devices that help record brain activity and stop it there, rather than going a step further and providing feedback to restore attention, focus and creativity.
The next generation of wearable devices will focus on diagnosing mood disorders such as bipolar disorder, improving awareness, detecting and preventing burnout, increasing productivity and controlling devices with the mind.
The company Neurable expects to launch its noise-canceling brain activity headphones next year. You can track people’s concentration and suggest when it’s time to take breaks to improve overall productivity
The hope with wearable brain-computer interface devices is to help people detect and adjust their brainwave patterns related to concentration and attention, and to send feedback when their concentration is waning. This will help people self-regulate and improve their ability to stay focused
Several tech startups have developed their own BCIs, including San Francisco-based Emotiv, which sells a $999 electroencephalogram, or EEG, headset to measure small changes in brain activity at different points.
But Emotiv’s products, like other wearables on the market, are still primarily intended for neurological data collection, rather than biofeedback to influence human behavior.
However, Boston-based startup Neurable expects to launch the first headphones that can monitor brain activity, suggest break times if the wearer is about to have an accident, and help the wearer better manage their time and maximizing productivity throughout the process. Day.
Adam Molnar, co-founder of Neurable, said of the company’s new Duck headphones: “We’ve seen incredible advances in BCI technology over the last few years, let alone the decade.”
“Ten years ago, a product like ducks did not seem feasible. Now we are seeing a revolution in the industry where BCI is within reach for consumers.”
The most promising wearable BCIs are equipped with sensors called functional near-infrared spectroscopy to detect changes in blood oxygen levels in the brain, a tool for measuring brain activity.
Despite the industry’s great promise, there are still significant technological hurdles for developers to overcome. For example, smaller and more powerful sensors are needed to access lower quality signals deep in the brain that are difficult to detect through the skull and hair.
Designers of these devices also have to grapple with the realization that few people want to spend their lives or workdays wearing headphones that look like medical headgear.
Thousands of people are said to have expressed interest in having one of Elon Musk’s controversial brain chips implanted into their skulls as part of an experimental study on humans.
Here’s how it works: The chips are designed to interpret signals generated in the brain and transmit information to devices via Bluetooth, with the goal of allowing a participant to control a computer pointer or keyboard by just using their minds
Implantable devices are also generating excitement among prominent tech figures, including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, who are funding a multimillion-dollar project to develop a device that sends tiny electrodes through blood vessels in the body to connect them to the brain . connected all without drilling through the skull.
The UN warns that unregulated AI brain chips threaten democracy and intellectual privacy
A United Nations panel has warned that brain chip technology developed by Elon Musk could be misused for “neurosurveillance” that violates “mental privacy” or “even to carry out forms of forced re-education”, threatening human rights worldwide .
And Elon Musk’s controversial company Neuralink, which has come under scrutiny for its animal testing practices after more than 1,000 sheep, monkeys, pigs and more allegedly died in the company’s care, is recruiting for its first human trials in September launched and said it was looking for people with paralysis to test the experimental device as part of a six-year study.
Musk’s vision of a cyborg population begins by asking human subjects “who are willing to have a piece of their skull removed” so a robot can insert a chip into their brain and prove the technology works in humans .
So far, the implants have only been tested on monkeys and pigs.
Musk added that the company has not yet implanted its device in a human, but its goal is to operate on 11 people next year and more than 22,000 people by 2030.
Meanwhile, Neuralink rival Synchron has already implanted its BCI chip in four Australian subjects suffering from the debilitating muscle-wasting disease ALS, which causes severe paralysis.
The company’s implantable sensor, the Stentrode, is inserted through an incision in the neck and inserted into the brain, where it can measure and record electrical signals.
The sensor in the brain is connected by a cable to a transmitter under the skin that sends wireless signals to a computer
The subjects with the implant were able to perform tasks such as sending emails, texting, shopping, managing their finances and communicating needs with healthcare providers.
They also typed with the system at an average speed of 16.6 characters per minute and more than 97 percent of their input was correct in text.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.