Man Controls iPad With His Mind Using Synchron Brain Implant (nerds.xyz) 14
BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: Synchron has just released a public demo showing something that used to feel impossible. A man with ALS is now using his iPad with nothing but his brain. No hands. No voice. No eye-tracking. Just thought. The man in the video is named Mark. He's part of Synchron's COMMAND clinical study and has an implant called the Stentrode. It sits inside his brain's blood vessels and picks up his motor intention. Those signals get sent wirelessly to an external decoder, which then tells the iPad what to do. It's all made possible by Apple's new Brain-Computer Interface Human Interface Device protocol, which lets iPadOS treat brain activity like an actual input method.
Apple's built-in Switch Control feature makes the whole thing work on the software side. The iPad even sends back screen context to the BCI decoder to make everything run more smoothly and accurately. [...] Synchron was the first company to start clinical trials with a permanently implanted BCI. The big difference here is that it doesn't require open brain surgery. The device is implanted through the blood vessels, which makes it way more practical for real-world use.
Apple's built-in Switch Control feature makes the whole thing work on the software side. The iPad even sends back screen context to the BCI decoder to make everything run more smoothly and accurately. [...] Synchron was the first company to start clinical trials with a permanently implanted BCI. The big difference here is that it doesn't require open brain surgery. The device is implanted through the blood vessels, which makes it way more practical for real-world use.
Must be small implant (Score:1)
When you look into the abyss... (Score:4, Interesting)
How long before the AI agent on the device can control the man?
how long before BCI requires an upgrade? (Score:1)
How long before Apple discontinues support for BCI on legacy devices? How often with captive users require an upgrade?
Look out, SuperKendall, there's a whole new class of photo pros looking to Hector Salamanca you right out of business!
Re: (Score:1)
How long before Apple discontinues support for BCI on legacy devices? How often with captive users require an upgrade?
The implant here is a huge deal! I mean game changing huge.
You're effectively asking how often you need to upgrade your bluetooth headphones because some device manufacturer you never buy from might discontinue bluetooth.
I already have an arterial brain implant, specifically a flow diverter to treat an unruptured brain aneurysm. It is installed in the exact same way.
The procedure is effectively at an outpatient level.
They don't even need to put you fully under with general anesthesia. I was fully awake w
Re: (Score:2)
Granted- I was only kept a single night for observation so they could keep doing doppler ultrasounds to make sure I wasn't uhhh, leaking, still wasn't outpatient.
That all being said- it was a remarkably better process than what my stepbrother went through. I don't know the precise details of the surgery, but judging from his scary, they uhhhh, peeled his face off or sawed his skull in half.
Linux (Score:2)
How long before Apple discontinues support for BCI on legacy devices? How often with captive users require an upgrade?
I already have an arterial brain implant, specifically a flow diverter to treat an unruptured brain aneurysm. It is installed in the exact same way.
The procedure is effectively at an outpatient level.
The fact it's an external box that translates the simple implant transmissions means it can be made to work with any hardware.
Don't like apple, use the box for android. Don't like android, use the box for a PC.
2026 will be the Year Of Linux On The Brain.
(Oh, wait, that's every year for a lot of nerds....)
Just a small step (Score:3)
Do not expect general availability this decade or the next one. Do not expect anything easy to use. Still, that they can do this without brain surgery is pretty impressive.
Ready Player 2 here we come! (Score:2)
Remind me to buy stock in ONI.
TECHNICALLY (Score:1)
Apple's next step: (Score:2)
The man can take comfort in know that (Score:1)
his Synchron implant isn't owned by a Neo Nazi, being that Synchron is a competitor to Neuralink.
This alone is worth something.