The Future Is Here: Next-Gen Brain-Computer Interfaces Aim to Augment Human Capabilities

(Source: Shanghai Observation News)

A batch of groundbreaking brain-computer interface technologies made in China was released in Shanghai on December 4, prompting many to exclaim that "the future is already here." Thanks to these innovative breakthroughs, numerous health challenges that seemed almost hopeless in traditional medicine—such as helping addicts quit drugs completely, enabling those with severe limb disabilities to regain mobility, and restoring vision for individuals who have lost their eyeballs—are now showing promise due to brain-computer interfaces.

More excitingly, healthy people also have the opportunity to benefit from it, greatly expanding their physiological limits with the help of brain-computer interfaces and possessing certain "superpowers" in vision and body control.

Yesterday, the 2025 Brain-Computer Interface Conference was held at the Shanghai Brain-Computer Interface Future Industry Agglomeration Zone, opening with a high-level presentation of achievements. According to Li Wenyu, Secretary General of the Brain-Computer Interface Industry Alliance, by leveraging the high-quality platform built by Shanghai, this release demonstrated China's brain-computer interface technology making a leap from fundamental research to clinical application.

Deep Brain Stimulation Cracks the "Toughest Nut" in Mental Health

It is not an exaggeration to compare brain-computer interfaces with the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. If the AI revolution has gained popularity because it endows ordinary people with extraordinary cognitive abilities at the intellectual level, then brain-computer interfaces are making breakthroughs at the intersection of mind and physiology, helping people break free from constraints and gain a new lease on life. A series of achievements unveiled yesterday highlighted this characteristic.

The greatest shackles that humans can encounter on both mental and physiological levels may be nothing more than drugs. Today, the worldwide challenge of drug rehabilitation may be overcome by brain-computer interfaces. Ning Yihua, chairman of Sceneray, revealed that after more than a decade of research, they have preliminarily found a method to treat drug addiction—by implanting electrodes into specific areas of the human brain and applying mild electrical stimulation under algorithmic control, achieving a long-term abstinence rate as high as 70%.

According to the demonstration by Sceneray, the implanted electrode is about 10 centimeters long and fixed to the skull through a coin-like device buried under the scalp; the host controlling the discharge program is embedded subcutaneously in the chest. Due to the sufficient flexibility of the electrode and the highly personalized stimulation therapy, the entire detoxification process does not affect cognition, personality, or memory. A large-sample randomized double-blind clinical trial (the first of its kind globally in this field) conducted by Sceneray in collaboration with multiple hospitals in China showed a 10-year abstinence rate of 69% among patients. Ning Yihua revealed that the company is expected to obtain the world's first registration certificate for detoxification medical devices in the near future.

In the treatment of other stubborn psychiatric and neurological disorders, brain-computer interfaces have also shown astonishing effects. According to a video displayed on-site by Ning Yihua, a Parkinson's disease patient who was trembling all over could move freely and talk cheerfully as soon as he turned on the brain-computer interface he was wearing.

"Brain-Computer+Robot"Achieving Self-Duplication"

As a leading company in invasive brain-computer interface technology in China, Shanghai Jieti Medical released their second-generation brain-computer interface product yesterday: with the size of the implant remaining basically unchanged, the number of signal channels has increased from 64 in the first generation to 256, interaction efficiency has improved by approximately 60%, and the designed service life has also increased from 5 to 8 years to 8 to 12 years.

Compared with rigid technical indicators, the development roadmap of brain-computer interfaces published by SceneRay appears more humane. In their view, the value brought by brain-computer interfaces is not only to help people with disabilities "regain" lost functions but also corresponds to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, enabling physiological and mental empowerment at progressive levels and fulfilling emotional and value-driven needs.

Zhang Shiqiang, the company's Chief Product Officer, stated that the first-generation brain-computer interface developed by SceneRay can already enable users with limb amputations to use their smartphones, play on computers, or "drive" intelligent wheelchairs smoothly along narrow paths, all through thought control. The newly launched second-generation "upgraded version" offers better performance and faster thought control, allowing implant users to potentially operate robotic arms smoothly, performing a series of hand movements on their behalf. In the future, with the release of the more advanced third-generation product, users will be able to fluently control embodied intelligent robots in open environments, making them an extension of themselves. Once achieved, brain-computer interfaces will no longer serve only people with disabilities but also enhance physical abilities for able-bodied individuals, even becoming a smart device to improve neural functions and cognitive capabilities.

Based on this roadmap, in addition to promoting the development of brain-computer interface technology itself, Step Medical will also drive the development of a large number of external devices, allowing a rich peripheral ecosystem to expand the application scenarios of brain-computer interfaces. One day in the future, when competitors with implanted brain-computer products easily defeat their opponents on the competitive field, Zhang Shiqiang believes there will be no need for surprise, and jokingly remarks with a line from "The Oil Seller": "No other secret, just skill through familiarity."

"Super Vision" Moves from Sci-Fi to the Lab

Helping the blind to "see" again is a highly anticipated application direction of brain-computer interfaces. Liu Bing, founder and CEO of Shanghai Mingshi Brain-Computer, revealed that their research has reached the "dawn moment" of visual reconstruction.

Through a special visual stimulation algorithm, Sceneray's brain-computer interface, using an invasive approach, has been able to stably reproduce phosphene effects in the brain, including the size, shape, position of graphics, as well as color and grayscale. All related experiments are global firsts. Building on these foundations, Sceneray hopes to develop a more complete system in the future that would allow blind individuals to wear smart glasses, capture first-person perspective images, and "project" them into the brain via the brain-computer interface, thereby achieving the equivalent of 0.1 vision. This would enable them to "see" roads and pedestrians, and "read" text on signboards.

The challenge of visual reconstruction lies in developing better algorithms to more effectively "translate" the light and shadow of the world into stimuli that the brain can understand. Currently, the resolution of images that MingShi Technology can reconstruct is not high enough, with significant graininess. Additionally, the technology for implanting electrodes needs further improvement to substantially increase the number of signal channels—currently, both MingShi Technology and Neuralink, under Musk, have surpassed a thousand channels in their brain-computer interfaces, but they will need to increase this by at least tenfold in the future.

Liu Bing stated that visual reconstruction can not only benefit 43 million visually impaired patients worldwide but also potentially grant ordinary people "super vision." For instance, by using brain-computer interfaces to overlay the perception of infrared light onto normal vision, humans could naturally acquire night vision capabilities. It is reported that SceneRay has already begun related animal experiments.

Original Title: "The Future is Here! The Next Step for Brain-Computer Interfaces: Enhancing Humanity"

Column Editor: Ren Quan

Source: Author: Zhang Yi, Wen Hui Bao