Valve is building brain-computer interface for fully-immersive video games, president reveals – The Independent

The head of video game giant Valve has revealed that the company is working on a way to connect human brains to computers in order to revolutionise gaming and fundamentally alter human experience.

Gabe Newell told New Zealands 1 News that Valve is working with neuroscience platform OpenBCI to develop an open source brain-computer interface (BCI) software.

One of the goals is to allow people to fully immerse themselves in video games through a VR-style headset, however Mr Newell claimed that the ultimate potential is nearly limitless.

Were working on an open source project so that everybody can have high-resolution [brain signal] read technologies built into headsets, in a bunch of different modalities, he said.

A lot of our product design discussions sound like science fiction Our ability to create experience in peoples brains that are not mediated through their meat peripherals will actually be better than is possible [with our senses].

A BCI headset design by OpenBCI that could integrate with a virtual reality device

(OpenBCI)

This would mean that by tapping directly into the part of the brain responsible for visual, audio or sensory feedback, a users experience would be vastly improved than what is delivered through their ears or eyes.

The real world will stop being the metric that we apply to the best possible visual fidelity, he said. The real world will seem flat, colourless, blurry compared to the experiences that youll be able to create in peoples brains.

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With BCIs, fairly quickly well be able to create experiences that are superior to [reality]. But thats not where it gets weird. Where it gets weird is that who you are becomes editable through a BCI.

The idea of editing emotions or thoughts through BCIs is not a new one and has previously been floated by Elon Musks neurotechnology startup Neuralink.

Neuralink demonstrated a working BCI device last year, which it had implanted in a pigs brain in order to monitor signals and activity.

During a presentation last August, Musk said the chip would be used to help solve brain and spine problems but could ultimately be used for a range of applications, such as summoning a self-driving Tesla telepathically.

You could solve blindness, you could solve paralysis, you could solve hearing, he said. In the future youll be able to save and replay memories Ultimately, you could download them into a new body or robot body."

A robot designed by Neuralink would insert the 'threads' into the brain using a needle

Neuralink

A fully implantable neural interface connects to the brain through tiny threads

Neuralink

Trials of Neuralink's fully implantable neural interface system will begin in 2021

Neuralink

Neuralink says learning to use the device is 'like learning to touch type or play the piano'

Neuralink

Valve is yet to announce any details about when a working device might be made commercially available, though Mr Newell hinted that it is unlikely to be before 2022.

Mr Newell also said that beyond gaming, advances with BCI technology would transform sleep into just an app that you run in order to maximise body recovery and performance.

The brains flexibility means you could even make people think they have tentacles instead of arms, he claimed, though he also warned that user acceptance of such technology depended entirely on trust.

Theres nothing magical about these systems that make them less vulnerable to viruses or things like that, he said.

People are going to have to have a lot of confidence that these are secure systems that dont have longterm health risks.

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Valve is building brain-computer interface for fully-immersive video games, president reveals - The Independent