Apple enters brain-computer interface market, could it be possible to control iPhone with brainwaves?
Apple has partnered with Synchron, a brain-computer interface (BCI) company, to create a brain implant that will allow users to control their iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro without gesture or voice input.
Synchron To Achieve First Native Brain-Computer Interface Integration with iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro
Exclusive | Apple to Support Brain-Implant Control of Its Devices - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-brain-computer-interface-9ec69919
Apple unveils powerful accessibility features coming later this year - Apple
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/05/apple-unveils-powerful-accessibility-features-coming-later-this-year/
The new BCI standard announced by Apple is called 'Brain-Computer Interface Human Interface Device (BCI HID)' and is intended to enable people with motor impairments due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) , stroke, spinal cord injury, etc. to access digital devices hands-free and voice-free.
Apple has been working on the new standard with Synchron, a company that makes a stent -like device that is implanted in a vein above the brain's motor cortex. The brain implant, called a 'stentrode,' is equipped with electrodes that read brain signals and translate them into selecting icons on a screen, allowing users to control devices like their iPhone just by thinking about them.
'This is a defining moment in human-device interaction,' said Tom Oxley, CEO and co-founder of Synchron. 'BCIs are not just accessibility tools; they are the next interface layer, and Apple is helping to develop brain signals as a new interface paradigm to rival touch, voice, and typing. Having BCIs recognized as native input on Apple devices will open up new possibilities for people with motor disabilities and beyond.'
Synchron has implanted the Stentrode device in 10 people since 2019. One of the first test participants, Mark Jackson, is unable to walk or leave his home due to ALS, but he was able to visit the Alps with an Apple Vision Pro connected to the implant and peer into steep valleys, feeling his legs tremble.
Stentrode is still in the early stages of development, so it cannot reproduce the action of moving a cursor with a mouse or operating a touch screen with a finger, and operation is much slower than normal input to a PC or smartphone. However, Neuralink, led by Elon Musk, has 1,000 electrodes, more than Stentrode's 16, and has demonstrated that the 'N1', which is implanted inside the brain instead of on the surface of the brain, can be operated by thought faster than using a mouse, and BCI technology is promising.
Live broadcast of Elon Musk's Neuralink brain-machine interface implanted in the brain for the first time, playing a game - GIGAZINE
Apple plans to open BCI HID to other developers as a new standard in the second half of 2025, and Synchron plans to begin rolling out systems supporting BCI HID to clinical trial participants later this year.
On the same day as the BCI HID announcement, Apple announced a number of new accessibility features that will be available in the second half of 2025. These include 'Accessibility Nutrition Labels' in the App Store to highlight accessibility features in apps and games, a revamped Magnifier for Mac, 'Braille Access' to strengthen integration of Apple devices with braille displays, 'Accessibility Reader' designed to make text easier to read for users with various disabilities such as dyslexia and low vision, the addition of live captions to Apple Watch, and 'Enhanced View' for Apple Vision Pro, which magnifies objects and reads text aloud for users with low vision or visual impairments.
'At Apple, accessibility is part of our DNA. Creating technology for everyone is a top priority for all of us, and I'm proud of the innovations we're unveiling in 2025, including tools to give people access to important information, explore the world around them, and do the things they love,' said CEO Tim Cook.
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in Hardware, Posted by log1l_ks