Hong Kong – Tailor Insight, the fintech market research organization, recently released a research report "WIMI, Facebook and Tesla Contribute to New Growth Opportunities for Brain-Computer Interface and Hologram AR". Sci-fi movies are full of futuristic presages, and as a fan, Ghost in the Shell is getting the most attention. The film in the animation scene is also full of industry conscience! However, the most impressive thing is that when watching the movie, people are constantly brushing up on all kinds of professional terms: brain-computer interface, virtual reality, invisibility, smart car, and so on. In fact, many of the futuristic technologies envisioned in Ghost in the Shell are no longer so far away from us. At present, there are many enterprises that are implementing these technologies one by one.
At this year's CES, wearable brain-computer interface manufacturer NextMind demonstrated its latest developer kit, which is reported to be used to control computers, mobile devices, and VR/AR headsets. NextMind claims that this product can read signals from the visual cortex in real time, allowing you to control the device by simply wearing it at the back of your head.
At present, there are not many mature wearable brain-computer interface technologies on the market. In addition to NextMind, there is also an electrical pulse sensing bracelet CTRL-Labs, which was acquired by Facebook recently. What is different is that CTRL-Labs recognizes users' gestures and intentions through EMG, while NextMind is controlled by recognizing visual signals. Considering that the visual cortex contains more information than the eyeballs, perhaps NextMind's solution will have more application scenarios, compared with the simple eye-tracking technology. Meanwhile, it can better recognize users' real intentions.
Facebook's vision is to design a device that can convert brain signals into language, and it does not need to work on any muscles. Deep learning is enough to understand the brain directly, decode what is in the brain, and achieve smooth communication.
In April 2017, Regina Dugan, the leader of Building 8, Facebook's cutting-edge product development team, announced that the social networking company would develop a "hat" that could transmit words from the human brain at the rate of 100 words per minute in the next two years.
Facebook's supposed "hat" is for sharing your thoughts. A similar concept has previously been studied at Tsinghua University. That is, wearing a tiny electrode cap and controlling the 26 letters on a soft on-screen keyboard can type any sentence.
It was said that Facebook renamed the mysterious department building 8 as portal, and transferred some research work to the Facebook reality labs (FRL) department. The head of the FRL department is Michael Abrash, Facebook's chief scientist. His main research projects include brain computer interface, wearable, flexible skin and so on.
Abrash has expressed his preference for holographic AR technology for many times. He deeply believes that this technology will become the main way of work, entertainment and communication in the next 50 years, just like personal computers and smartphones have been changing the world since 45 years ago.
Abrash also hopes to share their beliefs through these articles, let those who are hesitant about holographic AR change their views, and understand how the public wants to integrate holographic AR into daily life through communication.
Ultimately, Facebook wants to make AR glasses. Andrew "Boz" Bosworth, vice president of Facebook's AR/VR business, said that the original intention of the project was to build a non-invasive wearable device that allows people to type only by imagining what they want to say, demonstrating future investment in AR glasses and the potential for interaction to become a reality.
Neuralink, a brain-computer interface startup of Elon Musk, demonstrated its latest generation of invasive brain-computer interface devices on Thursday, showing three piglets with brains implanted in the brain-computer interface. The plan is to conduct human testing after this safety testing and approval.
The brain-computer interface is smaller than a coin, can be implanted into the brain through a fully automated device in 30 minutes. It does not require general anesthesia and can be discharged from the hospital on the same day. Moreover, this operation is reversible. The brain-computer interface can realize the upload, storage, download, and even modification of neural information, and convert ideas into data signals that can be recognized by computers. Some people say that Marx's Neuralink is like a Pandora's box. Once opened, its potential is almost unlimited, and the development of mankind will also usher in major changes.
As a solution provider under 5G, WIMI has a leading AR holographic application platform in China, which is currently mainly used in entertainment, advertising, education, and other industries. In addition, its hardware environment is relatively mature, which is beneficial to the development of software and content in these fields.
WIMI's business application scenarios are mainly concentrated in five professional fields, including home entertainment, light field cinema, performing arts system, commercial release system, and advertising display system. Until now, the artificial intelligence industry has not formed a large market, and no enterprise can achieve absolute market monopoly. In many fields, such as algorithms, frameworks, chips, modules, and accelerators, there are always emerging companies.
Science fiction movies are fascinating because they satisfy all our fantasies about future technology. Nowadays, there are countless technology products that have moved from science fiction movies to reality. Mars exploration, mind-controlled cars, holographic communication transmission, etc., are no longer the fantasy.
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Media contact
Alex Xie, Senior Analyst
Fintech Research Team, Tailor Insight Research