Now, Facebook wants to build a mind-reading wristband
What's the story
Facebook's hardware ambitions are turning into real sci-fi stuff. A few months back, we heard that the company is working on a wearable to feel VR games, and now, in another development, it has described its (sketchy) plans of building a wristband that would read your mind and capture your intentions. Here's all you need to know about it.
Acquisition
Facebook acquired CTRL-labs to develop the band
Just recently, Facebook's vice president of VR and AR, Andrew Bosworth, announced that the social network has acquired CTRL-labs, a start-up that offers non-invasive neural interface platforms. He confirmed that the team from the company will join Facebook's Reality Labs to build these platforms at scale and bring "more natural, intuitive ways to interact with devices" to life. In other words, the wristband!
Device
First, the device will capture your intent
Detailing the goal of CTRL-labs' acquisition, Bosworth noted they hope to develop the wristband as part of an effort to let "people control their devices as a natural extension of movement." It would capture your intent to perform a certain action on a device, say to share a certain photo, by reading the electric signals sent by the neurons in your spinal cord.
Step #2
Then, it would convert those signals to automated action
After capturing the intent through electrical signals, the band would convert them into digital ones, which would allow the targeted device to execute the desired action. (Sketchy, we warned you!) Bosworth says the tech empowers "you with control over your digital life" and reads "your intention so you can share a photo with a friend using an imperceptible movement or just by intending to."
Facebook Post
You can read his post here
Launch
However, no word on launch
Bosworth says the device would save people from over-engaging with technology but has not mentioned anything about when we might see the product in action. To note, this adds to the long list of FB products in development - Facebook's hardware team is already known to be working on VR, AR devices that would read brain signals and work like phones, respectively.