PC Gamer is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s why you can trust us.

By Jacob Ridley published 3 August 22

From sci-fi concept to real-world use.

Remember those brain-to-computer devices that Gabe Newell, billionaire owner of Valve, was banging on about (opens in new tab) ? He said they'd be great for making immersive games and coined the phrase "meat peripherals" for human limbs. Hard to forget. Well, just last month such a device was actually implanted (installed?) into a person's brain, but instead of being used for bigger-than-life gaming it's to better access to technology for those that need it.

This first brain-computer interface (BCI) comes from a company called Synchron, and it's an endovascular device which means it doesn't require invasive brain surgery to be implanted. The point of this device is to enable patients with severe paralysis to control digital devices hands-free. Literally moving a mouse cursor with thoughts alone.

“The first-in-human implant of an endovascular BCI in the U.S. is a major clinical milestone that opens up new possibilities for patients with paralysis,” Tom Oxley, founder of Synchron, says. “Our technology is for the millions of people who have lost the ability to use their hands to control digital devices."

Wired (opens in new tab) spoke to Oxley about their company's aims with the device, and it comes down to how limited someone's access to modern computing technology, which is so critical for most peoples' day-to-day lives, is without average motor function.

"...to use them, you need to use your fingers."

The device, once installed, would then allow someone to interact with a PC, for example, and that could make a big difference to their level of independence. But the big step for BCIs according to Synchron isn't so much the device, but how easy the procedure is to install the device, one which most neurosurgeons will be familiar with.

It involves unravelling the device, called a Stenrode, inside a blood vessel in the brain via the neck.

“The patient was able to go home 48 hours after the surgery," Shahram Majidi, MD, the neurointerventional surgeon who performed the procedure, says.

The device has already been demonstrated to be safe up to 12 months after it was implanted in a trial in Australia, and Synchron wants to implant the device in at least 15 patients this year. In his interview with Wired, Oxley says the implant would cost roughly as much as a car, though didn't really get any more specific than that.

Elon Musk's Neuralink is another BCI technology headed to clinical trials (opens in new tab) . There's actually a fairly long history to BCI technology (opens in new tab) , though things have appeared to have sped up in the last decade.

It all sounds very sci-fi, but these BCI concepts are very much real and potentially changing how people live their lives. To go back to Newell for a second, who is more a man with a fascination than a medical professional, he said that "connecting to people's motor cortex and visual cortex is going to be way easier than people expected." This isn't quite that, nor does it aim to be, but at least in general terms of BCI technology, it appears there is speedy progress being made to hook up our brains to silicon. There's even talk of BCI technology intersecting consumer technology, such as with this VR headset (opens in new tab) .

Best CPU for gaming (opens in new tab) : The top chips from Intel and AMD Best gaming motherboard (opens in new tab) : The right boards Best graphics card (opens in new tab) : Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits Best SSD for gaming (opens in new tab) : Get into the game ahead of the rest

Of course, with this budding technology comes concerns of what it might lead to, or who could take advantage of it, but for today at least it's seemingly looking to benefit a few in need.

“What I want the world to understand is that this technology is going to help people,” Oxley says. “There seems to be a theme around the possible negative aspects of this technology or where it might go, but the reality is that people need this technology, and they need it now.”

Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog from his hometown in Wales in 2017. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, where he would later win command of the kit cupboard as hardware editor. Nowadays, as senior hardware editor at PC Gamer, he spends his days reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industry. When he's not writing about GPUs and CPUs, however, you'll find him trying to get as far away from the modern world as possible by wild camping.

Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors.

Thank you for signing up to PC Gamer. You will receive a verification email shortly.

There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.

PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab) .

© Future Publishing Australia ABN: 96 734 906 323 | PO Box 1077, Mount St, North Sydney NSW 2059.