New implant allows users to control iPhone & iPad with brain

A new implant is now in the clinical trial phase, and it grants a user the ability to use their brain to control their iPhone or iPad with their thoughts.

The technology works similarly to other accessibility features, such as alternative switches. However, instead of registering a tap of a foot or a nod of the head, it registers the user's brain waves.

In an article by Semafor, spotted by 9to5Mac, we learn about Rodney Gorham, a retired software salesman in Australia.

Gorham has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a nervous system disease that severely impacts physical function. He's also one of six people using a device called a "Synchron Switch."

Created by Synchron, the Synchron Switch works with an array of sensors inserted, known as the stentrode, into the brain via a blood vessel. The switch itself is controlled wirelessly from the patient's chest.

When Gorham thinks about tapping his foot, his iPad registers it as a finger tap on the screen.

Gorham can control his iPad with his Synchron Switch, allowing him to send single-word text messages.

"We're excited about iOS and Apple products because they're so ubiquitous," said Tom Oxley, Synchron's co-founder, and CEO. "And this would be the first brain switch input into the device."

Synchron is the first company to gain FDA approval, and the technology could be seen as a boon for patients with severe mobility limitations.

16 Comments

DAalseth 3033 comments · 6 Years

About 2 years ago

This looks pretty cool.

rob53 3307 comments · 13 Years

Except in rare circumstances this capability would be disastrous. Show me 10 people who can concentrate consistently on anything to make this do half of what a person can do with their finger or voice. I know I wouldn’t be able to control something like this without messing up 9 out of 10 thoughts. I’m thinking about too many random things all the time for any neuro computer to figure out what’s the most important thing I’m thinking of.

rob53 said:

Except in rare circumstances this capability would be disastrous. Show me 10 people who can concentrate consistently on anything to make this do half of what a person can do with their finger or voice. I know I wouldn’t be able to control something like this without messing up 9 out of 10 thoughts. I’m thinking about too many random things all the time for any neuro computer to figure out what’s the most important thing I’m thinking of.

The point being not that this would do half of what someone could do with their finger or their voice. The point being this lets people do something when they CAN’T use their finger or voice. This is not a consumer product any more than Stephan Hawking’s speech computer was. It is for people with severe handicaps, to get them out of their prison. As far as how to use it, that would be training, as it was with SH’s speech computer and any other assistance device.

It would be interesting to put this on people in comas. There are a lot of reports of people saying they were aware of their surroundings, they just couldn’t move. It would be interesting if this could let them communicate.

baconstang 1153 comments · 10 Years

And with a little tweak, the control can be reversed...
Although phones are pretty good at controlling people already.

dewme 5737 comments · 10 Years

rob53 said:

Except in rare circumstances this capability would be disastrous. Show me 10 people who can concentrate consistently on anything to make this do half of what a person can do with their finger or voice. I know I wouldn’t be able to control something like this without messing up 9 out of 10 thoughts. I’m thinking about too many random things all the time for any neuro computer to figure out what’s the most important thing I’m thinking of.

Very intriguing concept. I imagine the processing logic must be trained to detect the occurrence of a very specific pattern of brain waves that occur in an individual when the individual thinks about performing a physical action. Does every human brain emit the same pattern for the same physical action? I have no idea. I expect there is some degree of variation between different individuals, especially for individuals who have never been able to perform certain actions, like tapping a foot or wiggling a particular finger.

I don't believe that this system is interpreting human "thoughts" at all. I think it is simply pattern matching waveforms collected in real time against a library of waveform samples that were collected during the training of the logic, when the user was thinking about a very specific action or impulse. Trying to train a system of this type to recognize even a tiny fraction of the possible variety of human thoughts would be a monumental challenge.

If the waveforms produced for particular thoughts/impulses, like toe taps, are the same for everyone it would be possible to obtain a machine that's pre-configured to recognize a small set of thoughts/impulses. Otherwise, each machine instance would have to be trained to work with its particular user.