Synchron Announces Brain Computer Interface Chat Feature Powered by OpenAI
July 11 2024 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
- New feature includes AI-driven emotion and language
predictions for users in real-time, hands-free without the need for
eye tracker or voice control
- Personalized prompts enable users to text at conversational
speed
Synchron, the brain-computer interface (BCI) company developing
endovascular technology to restore functionality in individuals
with motor impairment, today announced the integration of
generative AI, powered by OpenAI, into its brain-computer interface
(BCI) platform in a new chat feature.
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Mark, a person living with ALS who is
using Synchron’s BCI platform. (Photo credit: Synchron)
With OpenAI’s advanced generative AI system, Synchron further
enhances the capability of its BCI technology to enable people with
severe paralysis who have lost upper limb mobility to interact with
the digital world hands-free, through thought alone.
Synchron's BCI chat feature, powered by OpenAI, is designed to
be simple to use and easy to learn. It can now generate automated
prompts for texting and chatting, categorized by contextual inputs,
including the user’s emotion. This integration reflects the
company’s commitment to patient-first innovation in
neurotechnology. Synchron does not share the BCI user’s brain data
with OpenAI.
“As someone who will likely lose the ability to communicate as
my disease progresses, this technology gives me hope that in the
future I'll still have a way to easily connect with loved ones.
This will be a game changer,” said Mark, a person living with ALS
who is using Synchron’s BCI platform.
“Our users have lost the ability to make choices due to
neurological disorders. Generative AI can offer predictions that
are contextual to your environment, and the BCI enables individual
choices to be made,” said Tom Oxley, CEO & Founder, Synchron.
“BCIs preserve and extend a fundamental human right: the freedom of
expression. We take our autonomy for granted, until it is gone.
This is a pivotal moment at the convergence of powerful
technologies that can restore lives.”
OpenAI’s multimodal GPT generates content across text and audio,
allowing for more natural, real-time human-AI interactions. This is
critical for individuals with neurological disorders, who may
otherwise have trouble generating complex responses contextual to
their environment. Synchron will continue to assess
state-of-the-art LLMs that best suit the needs of Synchron BCI
users.
The Synchron BCI is implanted in the blood vessel on the surface
of the motor cortex of the brain via the jugular vein, through a
minimally-invasive endovascular procedure. Once implanted, it is
designed to detect and wirelessly transmit motor intent out of the
brain, intended to restore the capability for severely paralyzed
people to control personal devices with hands-free
point-and-click.
The updated BCI platform, powered by OpenAI’s advanced
generative AI models, offers users the ability to text more
efficiently. This includes faster response times, natural
conversational speeds and interaction with texting. These
advancements will benefit a wide range of users, including users
with upper limb mobility impairment and other neurological disease.
Synchron’s mission is to develop a first-in-class commercial BCI to
enable millions of people worldwide with upper limb impairment to
connect with the world.
For more information about the Synchron BCI and our registry,
visit https://synchronbci.com.
About Synchron
Synchron is a neurotechnology company developing an endovascular
brain-computer interface (BCI) designed to restore functionality in
people with severe paralysis. The clinical-stage company is
developing a neuroprosthesis to restore motor signaling to control
digital devices and autonomy for individuals with motor impairment.
Synchron is headquartered in New York City. For more information,
visit www.synchron.com. Follow us @synchroninc.
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Media Contact Kimberly Ha Synchron kha@synchron.com