Neuralink rival Synchron’s brain implant lets people control Apple Vision Pro with their minds
Mark uses the Vision Pro with his BCI (photo: courtesy of Synchron)
Neurotech company Synchron has made a breakthrough by connecting its brain implant to Apple’s Vision Pro headset. This integration allows patients with limited mobility to operate the headset solely through their thoughts, marking a significant advancement in brain-computer interface technology.
Synchron is building a brain-computer interface, or a BCI, designed to help patients with paralysis operate technology like smartphones and computers with their minds. The company has implanted its BCI in six patients in the U.S. and four in Australia. It still needs approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to commercialize its technology more broadly.
Apple released the Vision Pro earlier this year, and users typically control it with eye movements, voice commands and hand gestures. Synchron has been working to make it accessible to patients who can’t speak or move their upper limbs.
Synchron CEO Thomas Oxley said he thinks Apple’s iOS accessibility platform is best in class, which is why the company has initially focused on helping patients control devices within Apple’s ecosystem. He said Synchron will likely work to connect its BCI to other headsets, but it’s starting with the Vision Pro.
Apple has been “very supportive” of the Vision Pro integration, he added.
“I think BCI is very well placed to add huge value as a synergistic integration into the Apple ecosystem,” Oxley told CNBC in an interview.
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MacDailyNews Take: Clearly, you’re not going to start integrating BCI with some cheap plastic toy headset from Meta or even worse.
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