Facebook ‘s Brain-Computer Interface Project
The future of technology seems to be becoming more and more about the fusion of computers with the human brain. With Facebook’s recent acquisition of brain-computing start-up, CTRL-labs, for nearly $1 billion, the dream of BCI (Brain-Computer Interface) is slowly starting to become a reality.
On September 23, 2019, Facebook acquired CTRL-labs, a start-up based in New York which specialises in allowing humans to control computers using solely their brains. This start-up will fuse with Facebook Reality Labs, which is currently also working on developing augmented reality smart glasses.
Facebook recently admitted that it had hired a team of 60 engineers who have been working on this brain-computer interface for years already within their Building 8. The idea behind the technology is that it will allow people to type using their minds without the need for any invasive implants. This is done through the use of optical imagining which would scan your brain a hundred times per second in order to detect you speaking silently inside your head and subsequently translate it into text with the help of a wearable wristband.
Facebook Vice President of AR/VR Andrew Bosworth commented that “Technology like this has the potential to open up new creative possibilities and reimagine 19th century inventions in a 21st century world.”
Unfortunately for Facebook, they are already behind in the tech race for new VR products. The question now is whether Facebook will manage to keep up with the innovation of other Tech giants. Their most prominent competitor and threat to reaching global dominance is ByteDance, a Chinese company and one of the most valuable start-ups in the world.
Another threat to Facebook’s future development is its shady past with privacy, acquisition, monopoly status, and copyright of others’ ideas. All of these are going to be hurdles towards Facebook’s future success and position within the VR industry. This has been confirmed from the inability of Facebook to recruit top talent in the last couple of years due to its reputation. Young graduates now see Facebook as a CV liability instead of a career push into the professional world.
The $1 Billion investment into the project has so far been spent in the form of university research, and though the results seem promising, the idea is still years away from commercialisation.
From a legal standpoint, it would be interesting to observe the regulations that having a human hooked up to the internet 24/7 would require. Could that potentially lead to a social split based off the fast and never-ending information people who can afford the technology will be able to have? Will it lead to a total lack of personal privacy? Or could it possibly just make everything quicker and more efficient without any serious consequences to the life of ordinary people? This is an issue we will keep a close eye on.
Ellie Nikolova