It's no longer like science fiction

Great promise

Professor Lo Yuk-lam, president of the Hong Kong Bio-Med Innotech Association, found that many BCI-related projects are emerging in Hong Kong and he's discussing investment prospects with some startups. "Investors' interest is growing for two reasons. First, we need new investment directions, considering the current Sino-US trade and technology frictions. Second, the stagnant stock market is pushing us to early-stage projects." The investment cycle for BCI projects is at least five years. Moreover, having seen many applications on the market, investors are more confident in taking the plunge when it comes to this sector.

According to Lo, the HKSAR government has made bold moves to fund such fundamental and strategic scientific research. In his 2022 Policy Address, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the government has earmarked at least HK$10 billion ($1.28 billion) to encourage the commercialization of research and development outcomes. He believes the BCI industry will be able to benefit from the policy.

Lo says Hong Kong has a solid neuroscience research foundation to develop the BCI business, and is well-positioned to draw from the latest achievements on the Chinese mainland and abroad, as BCI is a cross-disciplinary subject that requires resources and talent from the fields of biomedicine, artificial intelligence and engineering.

Cheung and Lo stressed the importance of cooperating with the mainland. One benefit is that scientists now can apply for funding on the mainland; another is the substantial clinical resources there, says Cheung. "In just a week at Xiangya Hospital at Central South University in Changsha, Hunan province, we found quite a number of patients who allowed us to observe and study."

In Shenzhen, BCI research and products have also attracted a great deal of attention. "Prior to 2021, many investment firms still regarded BCI as magic in science fiction," says Li Xiaojian, who returned from Northwestern University in the US to China in 2018 to establish a laboratory for Brain-Computer Interface and Neuromorphic Intelligence at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Recalling the early days after he returned to the mainland, Li said he'd been placed in the same category as science fiction writers at interviews and forums. However, he sees that the trend has been changing since last year and fundraising activities are now more active.

Li co-founded a startup in Shenzhen in 2019 - We-Linking Medical Company - which claims to have independently developed the full technology for a fully-implantable BCI system, including the 512-channel-level ECoG (micro-electrocorticography) electrode grid, which is as thin as 10 microns, and the Application Specific Integrated Circuits chip to convert neural signals into digital data, as well as an integrated system for the signal recording and algorithm to process these signals.

"We're applying for clinical use and expect the ECoG to replace or upgrade the conventional ECoG in three years," says Li. The fully-implantable BCI system is expected to enable motor-disabled patients to restore some of their motion control.

Phone in the head

BCI originated from medical research, but the ultimate destination for it is open to speculation. Wildest conjectures are that it will bring about a complete change in the way people live, communicate, entertain, and even how they experience the world at a brand-new sensory level.

According to Musk, the future of BCI is like putting a phone in people's heads. "We're confident that someone who, basically, has no other interface to the outside world, would be able to control their phone better than someone with their hands working."

Compared to the invasive system in medical use, another form of BCI - the non-invasive approach, which attaches sensors to the brain skin - has taken a dramatic leap forward, beyond addressing medical disabilities.

MindAmp - a Hong Kong startup - has developed an earphone-based BCI to help people meditate easier and enhance their learning efficiency.

Moreover, BrainCo Inc - a BCI startup on the mainland - entered the mass consumer market this year with products, costing about 2,000 yuan ($286), to improve sleeping and ease anxiety, in addition to the company's intelligent prosthetic hands and legs.

BrainCo said it has secured a $200 million investment, almost equivalent to the $205 million raised by Musk's Neuralink last year. Han Bicheng, founder of the startup, believes the non-invasive BCI products market is hundreds or even thousands of times larger than that for invasive BCI products, which require craniotomy - although only the latter can treat diseases like epilepsy.

"It's possible that all users around the world could mentally communicate through BCI in the future. At that time, it would become the ultimate format of the metaverse," predicts Li. However, he believes there's still a long way to go before the technology can be used to treat some mental diseases, or to provide so-called sensory simulation, which some have come to expect from the metaverse, including gustatory simulation.

The difficulty lies in advancing the pace of brain science. In the human brain, motor and sensory functions are controlled by the cerebral cortex, the failure of which would lead to paralysis, auditory or optical disability. This area of the brain is mostly mapped and it is relatively easy for an electrode grid to be implanted there, but the functional areas in the inner side of the brain which control gustatory, tactile and other senses, still remain unknown.

"We're at the point that we haven't had breakthroughs for a long time in neuroscience. But, right now, many new technologies have emerged rapidly. They're available for us to record the brain's functions and analyze the data from the brain," says Vincent Cheung.

He believes a breakthrough is imminent.

"The technologies, probably, are already here or about to come. It's just a matter of realizing how to use them to unlock the mystery of the little organ."