<p>I have just been reading about Elon Musks new company <strong><a href="https://neuralink.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Neuralink</a></strong>. He claims that it is possible to increase the communication speed between humans and computers by using direct brain interfaces which could help in exchanging large volumes of information in a short period of time. The speed with which humans generate written information is just a few bytes per second. But computers communicate with each other at a very fast rate.   </p>

<p><strong>So my doubts are,</strong> </p>

<ol>
<li><p><strong><em>Is such a thing even possible?</em></strong> I have this question because I believe that our brain does not understand binary. </p></li>
<li><p>It took me a few <em>whole minutes</em> for typing this question. It was not because of my inability to type fast. It was because I had to plan with precision, each sentence I type to avoid grammatical errors and to communicate my question well (and to ensure that my question does not get hit with a series of downvotes). <strong><em>So how does increasing the communication speed between my brain and the computer actually guaranty that I will type this question faster than I'm typing now</em>?</strong></p></li>
<li><p><strong>If such a thing is actually possible, can you explain (<em>in brief</em>) how will such a method work?</strong> </p></li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-12T11:34:31.013Z
Some related questions: https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/8604/is-there-a-report-of-a-successfully-eeg-based-brain-computer-interface-bci-usi ; https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/14132/11318 . In short, it is possible, yes.
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-12T12:44:54.560Z
I understand. So he was talking about communicating the images we see or imagine, and the sound we hear. So these forms of information will require a *lot of bytes* as we switch between numerous mental images or thoughts every second.  But **constructed solutions** like the sentences we write are *results of our brain's computation process*. But if such an interface exists, **we can communicate the process along with the result, and the information depicting the process is what takes more time and space.** Thanks!
Sreram
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-13T17:01:36.630Z
I am not sure I agree that this is necessarily a duplicate as indicated by @mfloren.  There is little information on Neuralink's website on what they are trying to achieve
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-06T03:36:07.540Z
Regarding " actually guaranty that I will type this question faster than I'm typing now?" It's not about guaranteeing anything. But I think it would be impressive and useful if this kind of communication would work for any practical cases.
Volker Siegel
<neural-network><brain-computer-interface>
How will brain-computer interfacing work?
Sreram
# How will brain-computer interfacing work?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-12)

I have just been reading about Elon Musks new company **[Neuralink](https://neuralink.com/)**. He claims that it is possible to increase the communication speed between humans and computers by using direct brain interfaces which could help in exchanging large volumes of information in a short period of time. The speed with which humans generate written information is just a few bytes per second. But computers communicate with each other at a very fast rate.

**So my doubts are,**

1. ***Is such a thing even possible?*** I have this question because I believe that our brain does not understand binary.
2. It took me a few *whole minutes* for typing this question. It was not because of my inability to type fast. It was because I had to plan with precision, each sentence I type to avoid grammatical errors and to communicate my question well (and to ensure that my question does not get hit with a series of downvotes). ***So how does increasing the communication speed between my brain and the computer actually guaranty that I will type this question faster than I'm typing now*?**
3. **If such a thing is actually possible, can you explain (*in brief*) how will such a method work?**

**Tags:** neural-network, brain-computer-interface

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Some related questions: https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/8604/is-there-a-report-of-a-successfully-eeg-based-brain-computer-interface-bci-usi ; https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/14132/11318 . In short, it is possible, yes.  
> **username_0**: I understand. So he was talking about communicating the images we see or imagine, and the sound we hear. So these forms of information will require a *lot of bytes* as we switch between numerous mental images or thoughts every second.  But **constructed solutions** like the sentences we write are *results of our brain's computation process*. But if such an interface exists, **we can communicate the process along with the result, and the information depicting the process is what takes more time and space.** Thanks!  
> **username_2**: I am not sure I agree that this is necessarily a duplicate as indicated by @mfloren.  There is little information on Neuralink's website on what they are trying to achieve  
> **username_3**: Regarding " actually guaranty that I will type this question faster than I'm typing now?" It's not about guaranteeing anything. But I think it would be impressive and useful if this kind of communication would work for any practical cases.  

---

## 0 answers

