Apple has teamed up with Synchron to develop tech that lets people control its devices with thoughts

Apple has partnered with brain-computer interface maker Synchron to develop tech that lets consumers control devices like iPhones with their thoughts, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. This is primarily intended to help people with medical conditions that limit hand use, such as spinal cord injuries or diseases like ALS.

Here's the gist. Synchron has been developing a stent-like implant that's placed in a vein on top of the brain's motor cortex. It's called the Stentrode and it reads brain signals before translating them into the selection of icons on a screen. People can use the implant to select icons on Apple devices thanks to software called switch control, which is a feature in Apple's OS that allows for the addition of new input devices.

Human trials of Stentrode have been successful and now the two companies are working to develop a new standard for the technology specifically for Apple devices. These implants are typically called brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and Apple looks forward to a day when this type of technology receives approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

That day, however, is likely years away, even if recent tests have shown a lot of promise. Apple does plan on releasing the new software standard for Synchron implants to third-party developers later this year.

An early tester used Apple's new software along with a Stentrode implant to control the Apple Vision Pro and other devices. The ALS patient was able to peer over a mountain in the Swiss Alps in VR and communicate with his iPhone and iPad. It's worth noting that the current tech has its limits. The tester couldn't use the implant to mimic navigating a touch screen with fingers or moving a cursor with a mouse. Still, there are over 150,000 people in the US who suffer from serious upper-limb impairments that could be candidates for a BCI.

Apple has long been at the forefront of accessibility tech. It launched similar connectivity software for hearing aids all the way back in 2014 that has since become an industry standard. More recently, the company brought its accessibility-focused Magnifier reader to Macs and enhanced its Braille Access toolset.

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