Man with brain implant successfully controls Amazon's Alexa using his mind
The test focused on showing how people can mentally control smart home devices that are compatible with Alexa.
In yet another move towards a high-tech future, a man suffering from a degenerative disease successfully controlled Amazon Alexa with his mind. The 64-year-old patient with an implant in a blood vessel on the brain surface tapped icons on an Amazon Fire Tablet through his thoughts. Synchron, a brain-computer interface company behind this innovation, announced on Monday.
According to the company, the patient managed to make video calls, play music, stream shows, control smart home devices such as lights, shop online, and read books by using his mind to direct Alexa. The New York-based company asserted that the test focused on showing how people can mentally control smart home devices that are compatible with Alexa like door cameras, plugs, and thermostats.
The elderly man is suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disorder that targets the motor neurons, resulting in degeneration and death of the neurons, ultimately leading to loss of muscle function, paralysis and death. The disease is non-curable, and its cause is mostly unknown. However, it can be linked 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 with a similar approach
Multiple big players in the tech industry, including Elon Musk’s Neuralink, are attempting to connect the brain with computers. Earlier in January this year, Neuralink conducted a brain implant in a paralyzed man who underwent an accident. The SpaceX CEO lauded the implant as successful.
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