A “brain-machine interface” to control gadgets through thoughts?

Billionaire tech-venture capitalist Elon Musk got techies and tech journalists talking over the weekend in revealing the ongoing developments of a “brain-machine interface” startup he has been bankrolling.

A 2017-established firm named “Neuralink” has been working on a type of alternative human input interface system that allows people to control gadgets through thoughts – an implant system that’s envisioned to ‘interface’ with a person to allow him/her to control compatible technology by simply thinking of what to do.

The project’s development was discussed by Musk and Neuralink president Max Hodak in an event held at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco last week. During the event, the SpaceX and Tesla founder notably said, “A monkey has been able to control [a] computer with just his brain. Just FYI.”

Various reports on the project note that it has had an 87 percent success rate with tests conducted with 19 animals that have been surgically implanted with the device, following the development of a special surgical robot designed to specifically implant smaller-than-human-hair threads that’re part of the system.

The main intention of the system is to be of aid for persons with disabilities to control devices without the limitations of standard human interface gadgets.

Reactions over the developments accomplished by “Neuralink” has largely been mixed, with many people convinced that Musk’s presence at the event last week was largely a recruitment campaign to enlist volunteers to sign up for tests with the system.