November 08, 2022

Send Texts on Your Smartphone With a Thought

Imagine asking your friend in the next suburb what they’re doing later, but without the use of a smartphone and using a single thought. Well, imagine no longer! Synchron has produced an implant that will allow something that was previously thought to be the stuff of science fiction to become reality.

The New York-based hi-tech company has developed a neural implant, the “Synchron Switch”, that acts as an interface between a person’s smartphone and their brain. It recently received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to run clinical trials and there are already six patients lined up.

The implant will be surgically inserted via a blood vessel into the top of the brain, and works with an array of sensors dubbed a “Stentrode”.

The procedure is minimally invasive, allowing the device to be implanted by your local MD without the need for complicated and expensive neurosurgery. The Stentrode is then operated wirelessly with the Synchron Switch on the user’s chest.

The trials are no doubt going to produce exciting results, but for now Synchron is keeping inputs simple, with the tech registering foot taps as finger motions on an iPad touchscreen.

The technology offers a breakthrough for those with motor-function problems and could lead to major innovations in brain-computer interfaces.