China’s Plan to Promote Brain-Computer Interface Development
China’s Brain-Computer Interface Plan
A new brain-computer interface was unveiled by a Chinese startup last week at a technology event in Beijing. With this interface, a monkey can mentally operate a robotic arm.
A video from the event shows a tied-up monkey using the interface to control a robotic arm to pick up a fruit.
NeuCyber NeuroTech and the Chinese Institute for Brain Research developed this system. The brain is implanted with soft electrode filaments, according to Xinhua, a state-run news agency.
Scientists in the US have experimented with comparable systems on paralyzed people. They can even control robotic arms with the aid of these devices.
Racing to Develop Brain-Computer Interfaces, US and China
BCIs, or brain-computer interfaces, record and analyze brain impulses. They are frequently employed for direct control of devices like cellphones, keyboards, and robotic arms.
Several US firms, such as Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk, are attempting to make this technology accessible to anyone.
The lead analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), William Hannas, stated that China is catching up to the US quickly in terms of BCI technology.
China is quite motivated in this area, according to Hannas, who says, “They’re strongly motivated.” He thinks they are at the vanguard of technology, on par with or even better than anyone around the globe.
When it comes to invasive BCIs—brain implants—China has historically lagged behind the US. Rather, they concentrated on wearable, non-invasive technology. But according to WIRED, China is currently moving quickly forward with implanted interfaces, particularly for medical applications.
Regarding BCIs, “China is not the least bit shy.”
The emphasis that China is placing on noninvasive BCIs for daily usage has some Western analysts alarmed. Hannas provides insight into Chinese research in this field; she co-wrote a study that was published in March.
He cites the February 2024 Communist Party ethics rules as evidence that “China is not the least bit shy about this.” One of China’s objectives, according to these directives, is to enhance the cognitive capacities of healthy individuals through BCI research.
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According to an interpretation of the CSET standards, “Nonmedical objectives, including exoskeletons for augmentative BCI technologies and attention modulation, sleep regulation, memory regulation, and management of sleep, should be researched and developed to a certain level, provided there is rigorous regulation and clear benefit.”
Electroencephalography, or EEG, devices—scalp electrodes—are used in these non-medical applications of wearable brain-computer interfaces. But compared to impulses coming straight from the brain, signals coming from the scalp are more difficult to interpret, according to WIRED.
