AI wearables that can make the physically impossible a reality

For decades, companies and researchers have been exploring implantable devices that can make the physically impossible a reality. These devices have been game-changers for people like Rodney, a patient based in Australia who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS gradually inhibits all movement, including your ability to communicate.

Rodney was able to communicate with me by using the Stentrode device: a tiny electrode that converts brain signals into physical actions. In other words, the device reads his mind, by allowing him to type without ever moving his hands.

The Stentrode was developed by Synchron, a neurotech company backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. And it’s only the beginning.

Tech companies like Meta (META) are building off neurotech advancements in the medical world, which could lead to more consumer facing neurotech products in the future.

If you’re going to future-proof your portfolio, you need to know what’s NEXT in the business of neurotechnology. In this series, Yahoo Finance will feature stories that give a glimpse at the future, and show how companies are making big moves today that will matter tomorrow.

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Video transcript

Was it scary to be the first person to get the stent road?

Not really.

That's cool.

That's pretty brave.

This is Rodney and he's living with em atrophic lateral sclerosis or a LS A disease that gradually inhibits all movement, including your ability to communicate.

But Rodney is talking to me right now all the way from Australia using a special technology implanted in his brain that takes signals from the brain and translates them into commands on an external device like computer keys.

In other words, it reads his mind.

The technology called the Strode was created by Synchron, a neuro tech company backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.

Synchron has only implanted the device into a handful of patients, but they believe the ease of implantation will allow it to scale significantly.

This is not like 20 years out, not even 10 years out.

I think we're in a shorter time than that.