During the F8, Facebook revealed its plans for a new brain to computer system and interface.
In its second day of the F8 event, Facebook revealed that it is looking to develop a new brain to computer system and interface. This will allegedly allow its user to type directly with their mind.
The company is even looking to create a tech that will allow its users to “hear” with their skin. This new, ambitious tech is being developed by a team of over 60 people, all part of the R&D Division.
Details on these revolutionary plans came from Regina Dugan. She is the head of the R&D Division Building 8. The information was released during the second day of the F8. This is an annual software and developer conference hosted by Facebook in San Jose, California.
As part of the presentation, Facebook released a demo video meant to present this new tech’s abilities and applications. The company is aiming to create a software that will allow its users to type up to 100 words per minute. This is around five times faster than the average writing speed on a smartphone. Also, this new technology will be exclusively brain-powered, which would make its speed even the more impressive.
Dugan stated that: “It is these words, words that you have already decided to send to the speech center of your brain that we seek to turn into text.”
Also, she stated that Facebook will be looking to develop a non-invasive such technology. One that could also become a “speech prosthetic” for people with disabilities, disorders, or even a new AR input method.
The Brain to Computer System Is Not The Only Innovation
The secretive Building 8 is also reportedly developing a “hear through your skin” technology. According to Dugan, this will be based on the “Tacoma Method” and a special arm sleeve. This latter comes with an actuator system, which lets the user “feel the acoustic shape of a word on her arm”.
Presently, this system still has a limited “tactile vocabulary”. As it is, Dugan emphasized the fact that both these technologies are still in the making. As such, they are still some years away from being ready.
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