On Monday, Facebook
announced that it has acquired CTRL-labs, a neurotechnology startup. This is
part of efforts to develop a wristband that will be utilised to control smartphones,
computers and other digital devices. You will not even be required to touch a
screen or a keyboard.
The above development is an example of how the social networking
giant is changing the way we communicate with others. In 2017, it first
announced that it was working on a computer-brain interface that would allow
users to type words and send messages using only their brain. The company
planned on building a wearable device
instead of a system that requires surgery. Facebook’s vice president of
augmented and virtual reality advanced that “we know there are more
natural intuitive ways to interact with devices and technology”.
The acquisition of this New York-based CTRL-labs could help
the social network transform its vision into reality. Currently, the start-up
is working on a wristband that ‘decodes’ the electrical signals that neurons in
the spinal cord transmit to hand muscles. These give your hand information on how
to move, for instance, to press a button or to click a mouse. If Facebook’s
endeavours are successful, this technology would make it easier to send photos
and text messages. You would not even have to lift a finger.
Facebook
has acquired a neurotechnology startup
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