Meta Can Read Your Mind, Without Surgery — The First Step Towards A Universal Neural Interface

Meta AI’s new Brain2Qwerty v2 technology lets you type using only your thoughts, without any surgery or implants. The device records magnetically-generated brain activity when typing, then uses a neural network to recreate the exact keystrokes. This reduced the average word error rate from 55% to 39%, and one contestant managed a perfect 28% accuracy on sentences.

While we’re still a long way from surgically-implanted devices (which can achieve <2% error rates), the noninvasive option is quickly catching up — and with none of the hassle of cutting open someone’s head. This could be the first viable non-surgical solution for millions of people who are currently unable to communicate due to paralysis, and it shows that there are alternatives to going under the knife for effective neurointerfaces.