Typing a message to a loved one or searching the web could be as simple as a thought, thanks to new mind-control system currently in development.
Experts from CTRL-Labs believe they could have a watch-strap sized device to control your smartphone with your thoughts for release to early adopters by 2018.
The slim gadget could also make virtual reality more immersive, by eliminating the need for handheld controllers.
The technology works by focusing on the sets of signals that control movement as they travel through the spinal column (stock image)
In an in-depth article for Wired, reporter Steven Levy explores the work being done by the New York based company.
It might seem the stuff of science fiction, but CTRL-Labs counts engineers and neuroscientists from some of the world’s top academic institutions, including Stanford, John Hopkins and Imperial College London, among its staff and advisers.
It was founded by three PHD graduates from Columbia University who wanted to develop Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) technology to its full potential.
Many other big tech names are exploring this next frontier in human-machine interaction.
Some, like Elon Musk, have proposed a physical chip implanted directly into the brain to allow this to happen, as well as to enhance our intelligence.
But CTRL-Labs has already built a non-invasive prototype device, in the form of a wearable armband, that lets its user control an on-screen keyboard, or even play games.
Company CEO and co-founder Thomas Reardon, who demonstrated the fabric band for Wired told the website: ‘When I see these announcements about brain-scanning techniques and the obsession with the disembodied-head-in-a-jar approach to neuroscience, I just feel like they are missing the point of how all new scientific technologies get commercialised.
‘We are looking for enriched lives, more control over things over things around us, [and] more control over that stupid little device in your pocket, which is basically a read-only device right now, with horrible means of output.
‘I would like our devices, whether they are vended by us or by partners, to be on a million people within three or four years.’
The technology works by focusing on the sets of signals that control movement as they travel through the spinal column.
Experts from CTRL-Labs believe they could have a watch-strap sized device to control your smarthphone or PC with your thoughts for release to early adopters by 2018 (stock image)
Rather than a keyboard, you could type on a tabletop.
But the text on the screen is generated not by any physical interaction, but instead by the signals the brain sends to the fingers.
The armband intercepts this signals and interprets them, before relaying the output to the computer.
And the CTRL-Labs team has found that the system can pick up even more subtle signals, like the twitching of your fingers.
It could even allow you to type with barely imperceptible movements of your hands in your pockets.
By 2018, they hope to shrink the size of their prototype device to a similar size to a smart watch.