Typing with your mind, what kind of business is it?

　　Sino-Singapore Jingwei, December 7th (Chang Tao) "Move the cursor with your mind and spell out short English sentences on the screen..." A recent video of a monkey typing with his mind once again put the brain-computer interface technology under the spotlight.

　　For this future technology, not only researchers are highly concerned, but the market and capital enthusiasm continue to ferment.

So, what kind of business is behind typing with your mind?

What is the black technology of mind typing?

　　The video of the monkey typing with his mind was shown by Musk at an event held by Neuralink on December 1.

The monkey tracked the moving cursor on the screen through the screen and the device implanted in the brain, and spelled out the English phrase "Can I please have snacks" (Can I have some snacks?) without physical contact with the keyboard.

　　Neuralink is an American neural connection company focusing on brain-computer interface technology. Tesla CEO Musk is also the co-founder of this company.

At the above event, Musk also announced that the company is seeking approval from US regulators and plans to start human clinical trials on the brain-computer chip developed by the company within 6 months.

　　Although according to the latest news from Reuters on December 5, Neuralink is facing an investigation by the US federal department for alleged violations of animal welfare, but the above demonstration of typing with ideas, especially Musk’s claim that he will start the brain-computer interface human body The news of the test still aroused global attention and discussion.

　　Typing with ideas uses brain-computer interface technology, which refers to establishing a connection path between the human brain or animal brain and external devices and realizing information exchange.

　　It is understood that, according to the signal acquisition process and the way the brain is connected, the brain-computer interface can be divided into two types: invasive and non-invasive.

Invasive interfaces require electrodes to be implanted in the cerebral cortex, while non-invasive interfaces require wearing signal acquisition equipment.

Who is laying out?

　　Public reports show that human research on brain-computer interfaces has lasted for nearly a hundred years, but the explosion of the brain-computer interface industry took place in the past two decades.

　　At present, in terms of industry, some representative companies have emerged, such as Neuralink and Synchron, which were established in 2016.

It is worth mentioning that in the invasive field, Synchron has conducted human trials one step ahead of Neuralink.

In addition, technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, and Facebook have also begun to deploy and develop underlying technologies.

　　Research on brain-computer interface technology in China started relatively late, but in terms of industry, especially with the support of giants and capital, it has also formed a certain scale.

　　After 2014, Alibaba, Baidu, HKUST Xunfei and other companies entered the field of brain-computer interface through investment and mergers, and successively launched their own artificial intelligence brain projects.

For example, HKUST Xunfei researches the improvement of classroom teaching methods and effect evaluation, and Taobao researches the idea of ​​shopping and placing orders.

　　Among the A-share listed companies, Sanqi Mutual Entertainment, Innovative Medical, Century Huatong, Zhejiang University Insigma, Tom Cat, etc. have invested in equity or forward-looking R&D layout.

Sanqi Mutual Entertainment’s industrial fund invested in brain-computer AI technology company South China Brain Control, and Tom Cat and Hangzhou Niu Nuo Xiaoyun strategically cooperated to establish Jinke Tom Cat Life Technology, whose main business is brain-computer interface and brain function data analysis.

　　At the same time, a group of players have also appeared on the entrepreneurial track, such as BrainCo, Brainland Technology, and Boruikang, etc., and have attracted capital attention.

According to public reports, BrainCo has raised more than US$200 million in financing.

　　According to the research report of the Eggshell Research Institute, judging from the distribution of financing rounds of domestic brain-computer interface companies in China, round A and before accounted for as high as 81%. Most companies are in the early stage of financing, and the entire industry is still in its infancy.

From 2015 to the first half of 2022, a total of 37 companies in China's domestic brain-computer interface industry received financing, of which only 4 companies deployed invasive technology and obtained financing, and 89% of companies used non-invasive technology to cut into the brain-computer interface track.

　　From the perspective of investment, Guosen Securities pointed out that the current brain-computer interface related technology is still in its early stage, but it has great potential in terms of application fields and future commercial value. It is recommended to focus on two main lines, one is the field of software and hardware driven by technology, Pay attention to the progress in acquisition, external control, medical equipment, consumer electronics and other fields; second, in the long run, brain-computer interface related software and hardware technologies are expected to mature in VR/AR, metaverse and other fields and bring new interactive manifestations, and continue to be optimistic about related field development.

Barriers to commercialization

　　Relevant research reports believe that although the current brain-computer interface technology is still in its early stages, it has great potential in terms of application fields and future commercial value.

　　At the national level, China listed brain science and brain-inspired research as technologies that need to be tackled in the 14th Five-Year Plan.

　　In September 2022, Shanghai issued the "Shanghai's Action Plan for Building Future Industrial Innovation Highlands and Developing and Expanding Future Industrial Clusters", proposing to accelerate non-invasive brain-computer interface technology, brain-computer fusion technology, brain-inspired chip technology, brain computing neural models, etc. field breakthrough.

Explore the application of brain-computer interface technology in the field of medical rehabilitation such as limb movement disorders, chronic disturbance of consciousness, and mental illness.

　　In the field of application, the industry generally believes that brain-computer interface technology will be the first to be applied to the medical rehabilitation industry in the future, and advanced human-computer interaction has room for imagination.

　　According to the "White Paper on Brain-Computer Interface Standardization 2021" released by the China Institute of Electronic Technology Standardization, the global brain-computer interface market size in 2019 is about 1.2 billion US dollars, and it is expected to reach 3.7 billion US dollars in 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 15.5%. The field accounted for 62%, followed by disease treatment.

　　The division of application fields is largely determined by the characteristics of brain-computer interface technology and the difficulty of implementation.

　　It is understood that the invasive brain-computer interface needs to implant electrodes or chips in the brain through surgery, and there are certain risks. Therefore, the current invasive brain-computer interface system is widely used in animals, and the research on humans is mostly limited to clinical trials such as paralyzed patients. Special groups.

The non-invasive brain-computer interface does not require surgery and directly collects brain signals from outside the brain, so most companies in the field of brain-computer interface currently choose this technology.

　　Han Bicheng, founder and CEO of BrainCo, said in an interview with Sino-Singapore Jingwei that the invasive brain interface technology mainly solves the problem of severe functional damage to the brain, while the non-invasive solution solves some problems in brain science and neuroscience. Issues, such as Alzheimer's, sleep disorders, autism, depression, are primarily in the area of ​​rehabilitation and wellness.

　　In the longer term, the "Brain-Computer Interface Overall Vision and Key Technology Research Report (2022)" recently released by the Institute of Information and Communication Technology mentioned that implantable brain-computer interface technology is mainly used in the medical field, and is most likely to be the first to land and bring the market The benefits are nerve replacement and neuromodulation-related technologies and products.

Non-implantable brain-computer interface technology can be applied to a wider range of life and production fields, and is gradually bringing benefits to mankind in many aspects such as rehabilitation training, education and entertainment, smart life, and manufacturing.

　　Although the application prospect is broad, brain-computer interface technology still faces many difficulties if it wants to take a step forward in the field of mass consumption.

　　In Bicheng Han’s view,

"Invasive brain interfaces are usually accompanied by challenges such as craniotomy and human rejection, while non-invasive brain interfaces face difficulties such as weak acquisition signals and complex brain structures." Bicheng Han said.

In addition, problems such as high cost of brain-computer interface equipment and safety ethics will also hinder the implementation of consumer-level applications.

　　Nevertheless, in the C-end market, there are still some superficial applications of brain interface technology, such as smart bionic hands, bionic legs, and sleep instruments.

The intelligent bionic hand produced by a certain company integrates brain-computer interface technology and artificial intelligence algorithms, and realizes the motion control of the bionic hand by collecting and processing the myoelectric and neural electrical signals generated by human muscle movement.

(The opinions in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investment is risky, and you need to be cautious when entering the market.)