With everybody constantly on their phones, the emergence of the
Internet of Things and augmented reality, ubiquitous computing
does not seem all that far-fetched anymore. That being so, the
question arises how we will interface with our smart cars, our
smart homes and our domestic robots? Will we hunch over tablets
to control the sound and lighting systems in the house? Make
exaggerated gestures to control our motion-sensing robot? Talk
to our smart albeit inanimate car? Or will we take out the
middle man and interface with our smart environment directly
with our brain. Researchers of the University of Pittsburg are
aiming for the latter. They’ve created a ‘stealthy neural
interface’, a brain implant functioning as a Brain-Computer
Interface that is supposed to last for 70 years. The BCI takes
the form of an ultrathin electrode which –when implanted in the
brain- records the electrical signals transmitted by neurons.
The electrode converts the brain signals into machine language
allowing the implantee to cont