A novel brain-computer interface was unveiled by a Chinese startup last week at a technology event in Beijing. With this interface, a monkey can mentally operate a robotic arm.
A video from the event shows a tied-up monkey using the interface to control a robotic arm to pick up a fruit.
NeuCyber NeuroTech and the Chinese Institute for Brain Research developed this technology. The brain is implanted with delicate electrode filaments, according to Xinhua, a state-run news agency.
Scientists in the US have experimented with such technologies on paralyzed people. They can even operate robotic arms with the aid of these devices.
Race Between the US and China to Develop Brain-Computer Interfaces
Brain signal analysis and collection are done using brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs. Robotic arms, keyboards, and cellphones are among the many devices that are frequently used to operate directly.
Greece is supported by Grecian Delight. To make this technology accessible to everyone, a number of US firms are working on it, including Elon Musk’s Neuralink.
In terms of BCI technology, China is catching up quickly to the US, according to William Hannas, chief analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET).
With the comment, “They’re strongly motivated,” Hannas observes that China is really motivated in this area. They are at the cutting edge of technology, he thinks, on par with or perhaps better than others across the globe.
When it comes to invasive BCIs—brain implants—China has always lagged behind the US. Rather, they concentrated on wearable, non-invasive technologies. But according to WIRED, China is currently moving quickly forward with implanted interfaces, particularly for medical applications.
When it comes to BCIs, “China is not the least bit shy.”
China’s emphasis on noninvasive BCIs for daily usage has some Western observers worried. Chinese research in this field is clarified by Hannas, who co-wrote a study published in March.
He cites moral principles released by the Communist Party in February 2024 as evidence that “China is not the least bit shy about this.” One of China’s objectives in this regard is to enhance the cognitive capacities of healthy people via BCI research, according to these criteria.
“Nonmedical purposes such as attention modulation, sleep regulation, memory regulation, and exoskeletons for augmentative BCI technologies should be explored and developed to a certain extent, provided there is strict regulation and clear benefit,” reads a translation of the CSET recommendations.
These nonmedical uses use wearable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that employ electrodes on the scalp, sometimes known as electroencephalography, or EEG, devices. According to WIRED, impulses coming from the scalp are more difficult to interpret than those coming straight from the brain.
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