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Chapter 1214 [Invasive and Non-Invasive]

Fang Hongzheng was reading the documents in his hand, which showed that the team had successfully implanted chips in the brains of three pigs. The prototype developed by the team was also worn on the head of a monkey, which also achieved the expected experimental results.

This year, it was finally approved to start human clinical trials.

The so-called neuronal spike is a short pulse of electrical signal generated by a neuron after receiving enough excitatory input, which is usually used to transmit information and communicate with other neurons.

The brain chip developed by the team is mainly used to detect the spikes of neuronal discharges in the brain, and by processing these spike data, it can interpret the user's intentions. That is, by accurately detecting the activity of brain neurons, it can achieve real-time communication between the human brain and external devices.

After a while, Qin Feng said: "The brain chip tested this time is a new type of brain-computer interface. It can not only enhance the connection with the visual, tactile, auditory and motor cortex of the brain, help treat various neurological diseases, but also expand the way we interact with the world and ourselves. In short, you can control your mobile phone and computer just by thinking, and then indirectly control almost all devices."

It is worth mentioning that people’s concerns about brain-computer interfaces are a well-known topic. This kind of device that is comparable to "mind reading" makes people feel uneasy. Today's big data can even understand users better than users themselves by simply monitoring browsing records and describing user portraits.

If brain-computer technology is successfully released, what if a brain-computer chip virus becomes popular? What if sensory experiments steal ideas? If neurons are connected, can we hack the brain directly? Although neurons cannot transmit in the reverse direction.

Nowadays, mobile phone apps are all stealing privacy permissions. Doesn't that mean that brain-computers can read your mind physically? Maybe in the future, ads will appear not only when you open your eyes, but also when you close your eyes. It's terrifying to think about it.

Discussions like this are common on the Internet.

Fang Hong, who was reading the material, seemed to be talking to himself: "It is initially positioned as a medical device similar to a pacemaker. It is right to go in this direction."

Pacemakers also have risks. For example, they may stop working if they encounter electromagnetic pulses or even require human intervention. However, this medical device is still used. For patients, instead of worrying about future risks, the most important thing is to be alive now.

In short, if we start with medical devices, the resistance to opposition will be relatively much smaller.

Qin Feng went on to say: "The research team's subsequent plan is to design a device that converts brain signals into actions. Two application directions have been identified. One is to restore people's vision, and the other is to help people who cannot move their muscles control devices such as smartphones, and even restore the full body function of people with spinal cord injuries."

When this technology matures, the first users will be those who have lost their limbs. It will enable paralyzed people to stand up and walk again. This is undoubtedly a rebirth for the disabled. In comparison, they are absolutely willing to take those risks in order to get rid of the wheelchair and be able to take care of themselves. Even if they can really be read by others, what's the harm? What does privacy matter compared to this?
Fang Hong looked away from the materials, looked at Qin Feng and asked, "Is the application in restoring vision aimed at acquired blindness? Can it be effective for those who are born blind?"

Qin Feng immediately said: "It depends on the situation. Even if a patient is born blind, as long as the part of his cerebral cortex that perceives vision still exists, it is possible to restore his vision. At present, the brain chip of this research model needs to be implanted into the skull through surgery. The operation itself is not difficult and can be done by an excellent neurosurgeon. There are tens of thousands of microelectrodes on the chip that connect to the neurons in the brain and are then regulated through wireless communication technology."

He added: "In the future, this technology can also be made non-invasive or wearable, which can be used not only by patients but also by healthy people, and become an access terminal device for the Internet. This is also the ultimate goal of brain-computer interface technology, but of course the technology is also very difficult to overcome."

Fang Hong also finished reading the materials, put them aside, and said in a deep voice, "This team has something. Currently, no scientific research institution in the world has achieved the goal of using flexible electrodes thinner than a hair to make invasive brain-computer interfaces. Invasive brain-computer interface technology that solves the problems of rejection and damage is better than non-invasive ones."

The so-called invasive brain-computer interface, to put it simply, is to "open the brain" in the physical sense, and the non-invasive brain-computer interface, to put it simply, is a wearable device, such as a wearable helmet.

Qin Feng also nodded and said, "The brain skull blocks EEG signals physically. Without opening the skull, it is difficult to accurately detect brain waves, and it is also impossible to effectively stimulate brain neurons to form vision."

Fang Hong immediately changed the subject: "That is because the technology is not yet in place, and we need to continue researching and tackling technical problems. Invasive brain-computer interfaces are medical devices similar to pacemakers, so it is not difficult to use them to assist specific groups of people. The target group is also a small number of specific patients, and they are in urgent need of them."

"But as an entertainment terminal device like smartphones and computers, which is aimed at a non-specific group of people with overall health problems, there will be a lot of resistance from all kinds of sources. From the perspective of consumers, if they have to have their heads cut open for something that is perfectly fine, they would rather not use it."

"Being read by others, having no privacy, having ads implanted in dreams, etc., are all minor issues. What people are most worried about is being controlled by others without knowing it, or even knowing it but being powerless to do anything about it. Even if the possibility of this is extremely low, not many people are willing to try it. This fear is too suffocating."

Qin Feng nodded again and said, "Indeed. If we want to achieve true universal access, like the current smartphones, everyone should have one, and it must be a non-invasive wearable device."

If it is made into a non-invasive wearable device, such as a perception helmet, like a VR head-mounted display, people's acceptance will be very different and the psychological threshold of fear will be greatly lowered.

That is to say, you have the ability to say "no" at any time, the power to "refuse" at any time, and you can follow your own will at any time. If I don't want to use it anymore, I can just take off the perception helmet I'm wearing to disconnect without taking too much risk.

Although invasive interfaces can also be used to disconnect, they require surgery to open the brain again to remove it. Not only is it very troublesome, but brain surgery is also very risky. What if something goes wrong and the person becomes an idiot?
In a word, the difference between invasive and non-invasive is that it is easy to get on the car but difficult to get off the car in the former. Once some unknown changes occur, you may even feel helpless and that is quite desperate. The latter can jump out of the car at any time after getting on the car. If there is any sign of trouble, you can take off the sensing helmet equipment to avoid risks without having to open your head.

……

(End of this chapter)