Facebook is working on a neural interface to radically change the way people and machines interact.

The social network Facebook is improving and refining not only its own website and services. The company is busy with other projects, for example, open-source hardware for data centers, Internet drones and other interesting things. A few days ago it became known about the new development of Facebook, which is conducted by the forces of the closed research group Building 8. Not so much is known about the project, but the main thing that is worth knowing is that this is a neural interface .

The head of the division, Regina Dugan (by the way, the former head of DARPA and one of the research groups of Google), said that the company's goal is to create an interface that allows you to track a simple idea or a yes-no solution. Despite the seeming simplicity, this technology will be able to change the way people interact with technological products. According to Dugan, now all the forces of her group are thrown on this project.

Developers describe what they are working on as a “neurocomputer mouse”, controlled by thoughts. She can do nothing particularly complicated, like a normal mouse, but this will be enough to simplify the interaction of man and technology. In addition, the same solution can be applied in the conditions of virtual reality to track the movements of hands and other movements of the human body. Something similar is already using Microsoft in their video glasses HoloLens. In them, you can stretch your arm forward and make an imaginary "click on the mouse button." The mouse here is imaginary, but the action produced by man is converted by points into a real signal for the PC. As a result, the computer software responds as if a real mouse button was pressed.
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Facebook virtual technology can be useful, for example, for paralyzed or partially paralyzed people. They can not press the mouse button or work with the keyboard, but they can imagine such a click as much as they like.

Dugan stressed that we are not talking about reading thoughts or "peeping." All the work of the system will be designed only to read a certain thought about a particular action, and that’s all. “We are planning to decipher the words that you have already decided to say, sending them to the speech center of the brain,” the official announcement says. “Think of it as viewing many photos, among which you have chosen one to share it with other people. Similarly, you have many thoughts, among which you need to choose one. ”

According to representatives of the company, it is precisely the reading of thoughts that is the technology of the next generation. Speech, voice control - this is the last century. “Our brain generates and transmits as much data per second as 4 HD films weigh,” says Mark Zuckerberg. - "The human brain can transmit about 1 terabit of data per second, while speech can be compared with a modem of the 80s of the last century, capable of transmitting and receiving 40-60 bits per second."


Regina Dugan during one of the speeches

Facebook reminded users of a system developed by a group of scientists from Stanford. They were able to create a software and hardware platform that allows completely paralyzed people to type text using thought, and the speed is quite high - about 8 words per minute (after training). According to Dugan, her company wants to create a system with which it will be possible to type about 100 words per minute.

The project itself does not imply the use of invasive implants of any type. This is not about introducing something into the human brain. Specialists plan to work with the analysis of the electrical activity of the brain and signal conversion and imaging of active groups of neurons based on this analysis. The main element of the device for “reading of thoughts” is likely to be a helmet with electrodes. So far, the experts participating in the project are conducting research and development studies, and the practical implementation of the plan is still far away.

Facebook has more than 60 scientists and engineers from a wide variety of companies and organizations in this project, including Berkeley University, Johns Hopkins Hospital and others.

The plans for the next two years - the creation of a prototype of a working device, which will be checked during clinical trials. The long-term goal is the creation of a non-invasive "neuroslave" that can be used under normal conditions.