Tsinghua University has developed a new "in-ear" brain-computer interface sensor.

CTOnews.com, July 21 (Xinhua)-- the research team of Tsinghua University announced the development of a brain-computer interface (sensor) called SpiralE BCI, which uses an "in-the-ear" design. Users only need to insert the sensor into the ear canal to read the corresponding brainwave information, which is far less invasive than their peers'"skull patch" devices.

According to the ▲ image source Nature website, the sensor is made of flexible material and uses a spiral design, which can be electrically driven to adaptively fit the ear canal along the ear canal, so as not to affect the user's hearing.

Because of its small contact area (50 mm × 3 mm), the sensor can stably record EEG while reducing friction with the inner wall of the ear canal.

The ▲ image source Nature website is based on SpiralE BCI technology. The research team has proposed a new brain-computer solution, which consists of SSVEP-BCI and auditory BCI. The former captures and decodes the user's visual brain waves, while the latter records and decodes the sounds heard by the user.

The experimental data of ▲ image source Nature website show that the decoding accuracy of SpiralE BCI is about 95%, and the information transmission rate (ITR) is 36.86 ±15.53bit / min, which proves the potential of constructing efficient brain-computer interface based on SpiralE.

The team's findings are published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, and interested CTOnews.com friends can go to learn more.

But the development of brain-computer interfaces still requires vigilance, with UNESCO warning last week that neural technologies, including brain implants or scans (brain-computer interfaces), are experiencing "rapid development" that could lead to artificial intelligence manipulating the human brain, and that the combination of the technology and AI poses a threat to "mental privacy".