Brain-computer interface secret player in metaverse
ARTICLES | Aug 13, 2024
Facebook became Meta in October 2021 with the goal of becoming a metaverse company.
People would be able to live and create their avatars in the metaverse through virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), mediating between the physical and virtual worlds. The move's impact has led the world to focus on the leading companies' investment in the metaverse and the VR/AR market's growth within and outside this context.
Many component technologies will play a role in making a metaverse a reality. One of the most interesting is brain-computer interface (BCI).
Computer commands through brain waves have been discussed for a long time:
- The ability to command various electronic devices without an intermediary such as a remote control but by the user's brainwaves
- Brain-to-text (B2T) translation which eliminates the need to write or type
- Translate brainwaves into images - brain-to-image (B2I)
The technology also has medical applications, such as helping people with paralysis, myasthenia gravis, severe spinal cord injury, and nerve impulse network damage. BCI can also be divided into 2 main categories: (1) invasive, such as surgery to implant a chip into the skull, and (2) non-invasive that doesn’t require physical invasion, such as using an electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure brainwaves.
BCI technology had a market size valued at $1,488 million in 2020, with Allied Market Research projecting it to grow to $5,463 million by 2030, with an annual growth rate of 13.9% from 2020 to 2030.
Neuralink, a neural technology company led by Elon Musk, revealed in 2021 that it had successfully implanted a chip in the brain of a pig. The company has now conducted human trials, which is hoped will play a role in treating patients with severe spinal cord injuries and paraplegia.
VR/AR will be a critical player that drives people away from the physical world. BCI focuses on directing electronic devices with empirical results in the material world. BCI's letter typing is at 100 words per minute, 5 times faster than typing on a mobile phone. Media compares the pros and cons between Meta's Oculus Headset and Elon Musk's Neuralink. But Meta (Facebook at the time) acquired the BCI startup CTRL-Labs in 2019 so doesn’t see BCI as a competitor or pole to VR/AR.
VR/AR and BCI may also be integrated to create immersive experiences in the metaverse. A "full-dive VR system" incorporating BCI and haptic gadgets could enable the user's thought, sensory, and physical processes in the physical world to operate in an entirely virtual world. "Neuro-prosthetics technology" could decode brainwaves for prostheses to move the body.
Implications for the future
- If invasive BCI, such as implanting a chip into a human skull, is accepted in society, regulations are needed, including to manage risks for users, securing their biometric data, and defining the characteristics of data that can be used, contained, and transferred from the chip in the body to other devices.
- Metaverse elemental technologies will enhance the quality of life in the physical world alongside technology advancements in the virtual world, such as introducing an intelligent prosthetic arm for the disabled that enables the ability to pick up objects both in the physical world and virtual world and BCI devices for home appliances.
References:
-https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/02/future-of-the-metaverse-vr-ar-and-brain-computer/
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33bVGBkDy54
-https://3drific.com/is-full-dive-vr-achievable-in-the-next-10-years/
-https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/01/10/2363913/0/en/Global-Brain-Computer-Interface-BCI-Market-to-Accelerate-Backed-by-the-Growing-Elderly-Population-Worldwide-Market-to-Grow-with-a-CAGR-of-12-54-During-2021-2030-and-Generate-a-Reve.html#:~:text=The%20global%20brain%20computer%20interface,12.54%25%20during%20the%20forecast%20period.
-https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/brain-computer-interfaces-market
