The main goal of the test was to demonstrate mental control of Alexa-compatible smart home appliances.
Another step toward a high-tech future was made when a guy with a degenerative illness used his mind to effectively manage Amazon Alexa. The 64-year-old man used an Amazon Fire Tablet to tap icons while thinking. He had an implant in a blood artery on the surface of his brain. The brain-computer interface startup that created this innovation, Synchron, made an announcement on Monday.
The company claims that by using his mind to control Alexa, the patient was able to make video calls, play music, stream shows, operate smart home appliances like lights, purchase online, and read books. The exercise, according to the New York-based startup, was designed to demonstrate how users may mentally operate Alexa-compatible smart home appliances including thermostats, door cameras, and plugs.
The old guy has ALS, a neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons, causing the neurons to degenerate and die. This ultimately results in the loss of muscle function, paralysis, and death. The illness has no recognized origin and no known treatment. It may, nevertheless, be connected to genetic mutation.
“To be able to manage important aspects of my environment and control access to entertainment gives me back the independence that I’m losing,” Mark, the patient suffering from ALS, said in a release. “While many smart home systems rely on voice or touch, we are sending control signals directly from the brain,” Synchron founder and chief executive Tom Oxley said in the release. “Patients can interact with devices in their home hands and voice-free, using only their thoughts,” he added.
Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which uses a comparable strategy
There are several major players in the tech industry trying to link computers and the brain, such as Elon Musk’s Neuralink. A man who was paralyzed after an accident had a brain implant performed by Neuralink earlier in January of this year. The CEO of SpaceX praised the implant for its success.
