Published : 23/09/2026
If you did not have to type with your hands, speak, or touch a screen, but could simply "think" in your mind to input text to the outside world, control a wheelchair, or even a robot, what would the world be like?
This science-fiction-like scenario is gradually becoming a reality. The brain-computer interface, this cutting-edge technology that transforms "thoughts in the brain" into "real-world actions", is entering clinical treatment and daily life.
How does the brain "command" machines?
The body's movements are mostly dependent on signal commands generated by the brain, and these commands control various activities through the neural network that spreads throughout the body.
A brain-computer interface is like building a direct communication channel between the brain and an external device; it first uses a device to capture the brain's electroencephalographic (EEG) signals, converts them into machine-understandable commands, and then allows the brain to interact directly with the external device.
For example, if a person's central nervous system is injured, the brain's motor commands cannot be successfully transmitted to the hand muscles.
A brain-computer interface can bypass the damaged transmission pathway and directly transmit the intention to complete the action.
However, getting a machine to "read the brain" is not simple. The human brain has approximately 86 billion neurons, and current systems can only stably acquire and decode a very small fraction of them.
Therefore, brain-computer interfaces face three core challenges: first, how to accurately acquire weak brain signals amidst noise; second, how to infer the user's true intention from limited signals; and third, how to safely and precisely modulate specific brain regions.
Experts in fields such as neuroscience, medicine, materials science, and artificial intelligence are attempting to solve these difficult problems and promote the implementation and application of brain-computer interfaces.
Potential applications in aerospace and disaster relief
The most intuitive area of application for brain-computer interfaces is, first and foremost, mechanical control.
In some non-invasive applications, a user wears an EEG cap and a device records brain activity from the surface of the scalp.
After training, the user can use specific focus or imagined movements to control a small car to avoid obstacles, navigate a maze in a game, or execute simple commands on a computer.
However, because they are non-invasive, these types of systems typically have weaker signals and are easily affected by muscle activity and environmental interference, resulting in limited control precision and speed.
In more demanding scenarios, brain-computer interfaces are expected to become a new type of human-machine interaction in special environments.
For example, during space missions, after astronauts put on heavy spacesuits, their hand operations and physical activities are restricted.
If some brain signals can be directly decoded, it may be possible in the future to assist in controlling external equipment such as robotic arms, and to monitor astronauts' attention, fatigue, and psychological load, assisting with adjustments to work schedules and status management.
The same line of thinking can be extended to scenarios such as unmanned logistics, operations in hazardous environments, and disaster relief. Of course, most of these applications are still in the research, validation, or early exploratory stages. Truly entering large-scale daily life still depends on whether the system is sufficiently safe and accurate.
Bringing hope to the paralysed and aphasic
At the current stage, the most practical field for brain-computer interfaces remains medical rehabilitation; it is of great significance, especially for patients with quadriplegia, spinal cord injuries, motor neurone disease, and sequelae of stroke.
In recent years, Chinese scientific research teams have demonstrated a number of clinical exploratory results.
Taking patients with spinal cord injuries as an example, after having a brain-computer interface system implanted, some patients have been able to control electronic devices such as computer cursors and tablet computers with their "thoughts" after about two to three weeks of training; the research team then extended the control range from two-dimensional screens to the three-dimensional physical world, exploring the use of brain signals to control embodied intelligent robots.
Patients with speech impediments are also seeing a glimmer of hope. In 2025, a team in Beijing completed the human clinical exploration of a wireless implantable Chinese language brain-computer interface.
The system decodes 62 commonly used words and phrases, and after about 3 hours of training, a test subject who had lost speech due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) achieved an immediate decoding accuracy rate of up to 52% for the relevant words and phrases, allowing them to express basic needs.
This case illustrates that brain-computer interfaces do not "read" a person's complete thoughts, let alone casually pry into their inner world.
Rather, they identify neural signals related to a certain intention within the scope of a specific task and a specific brain region.
The key to breakthrough lies in electrodes and synergy
For brain-computer interfaces to move from short-term demonstrations to long-term use, the advancement of core devices is crucial, especially the electrodes that are in direct contact with brain tissue.
Implantable brain-computer interfaces can usually obtain clearer neural signals with more information, but at the same time, they must face issues such as surgical risks, biocompatibility, and device safety.
The human body treats foreign implants as "foreign bodies"; if rejection, inflammation, or signal degradation occurs, the system's effectiveness may decline over time.
The "tissue-like scaffold neural electrode" developed by Tsinghua University is an exploration aimed at addressing this problem.
Its three-dimensional porous structure and flexible design attempt to allow nerve cells to integrate more naturally with the electrode, as if providing a "scaffold" for the nerve cells to attach to and grow on, thereby reducing foreign body reactions and enhancing the safety and signal stability of long-term implants.
Furthermore, a brain-computer interface is not a single product but a complex system: the front end requires high-performance electrodes, chips, and materials; the middle section needs low-power transmission, signal processing, and artificial intelligence decoding; and the back end requires coordination with platforms such as robotic hands, exoskeletons, and rehabilitation equipment, so the synergistic development of each field is also very important.
The "15th Five-Year Plan" proposal has listed brain-computer interfaces as one of the six future industries for forward-looking deployment, which means that brain-computer interfaces are no longer just an exploratory topic for a few research teams, but are expected to enter a new stage of tackling key technologies, medical translation, standard-setting, and synergistic industrial development. Seven Chinese government departments have also jointly issued industrial policies to promote the improvement of various technologies and standard systems; the goal is to form a safer, more reliable, and internationally competitive industrial ecosystem by 2030.
Although there are still many hurdles to overcome, the prospect of going from "having an idea in the brain" to "the device executing it accurately" is already promising.
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