Apple is making progress on a standard for brain implant devices that can help people with disabilities control devices such as iPhones with their thoughts. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, Apple has plans to release that standard to other developers later this year.
The company has partnered with Synchron, which has been working with other companies, including Amazon, on ways to make devices more accessible. Synchron makes an implant called a Stentrode that is implanted in a vein on the brain’s motor cortex. Once implanted, the Stentrode can read brain signals and translate that to movement on devices including iPhones, iPads and Apple’s Vision Pro VR headset.
As we saw last year, a patient with ALS testing the Synchron technology was able to navigate menus in the Vision Pro device and use it to experience the Swiss Alps in VR. The technology could become more widely available to people with paralysis. The company has a community portal for those interested in learning about future tests.
Watch this: Brain Implant’s First Use with Apple Vision Pro, Amazon Alexa
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Synchron has also been working on ways to use the interface with ChatGPT.
Effects on accessibility
Although Apple is planning to release its standards, it may be a while before the kinds of technology made by Synchron and Elon Musk’s brain-interface company Neuralink reach a mass audience of those who need it.
“It’s important to keep in mind that while amazing medical interventions are becoming possible, the timeline for full mainstream adoption of people with severe mobility disabilities is still long, and we should maintain a focus on ensuring that we are making products accessible now,” said Bob Farrell, vice president for solution delivery and accessibility at Applause, a technology testing company that recently released an accessibility report.
Farrell said that Apple has helped lead a shift in the tech industry to make products available to a wider audience of those with disabilities.
“Apple recognized the social and business benefit to building inclusive products, and we’re seeing an uptick in other industries focusing on inclusivity, like gaming,” he said. “Game companies are now competing for accessibility awards and driving innovation forward in an industry that has traditionally argued it’s exempt from legal requirements around accessibility — yet demand for inclusion remains, and companies are innovating in this area.”
Making products truly inclusive, Farrell said, takes a lot of work and commitment and, Apple aside, not all of them invest and prioritize or seek out input from people with disabilities.
“We encourage more organizations to involve people with disabilities at every stage of the product-development lifecycle, from early conceptual research to both formal and informal usability testing with assistive technologies,” Farrell said.
“We’d also encourage more companies, especially those leading in consumer tech, to collaborate with accessibility experts and the disability community from the outset. Real-world feedback and testing can uncover critical usability issues that internal teams and automated tools will miss,” he said.
Other Apple announcements
Separately, Apple announced a set of new accessibility features it plans to roll out later this year. They include:
- Accessibility Nutrition Labels in the App Store will show accessibility features in games and other apps.
- A Magnifier tool for Mac, similar to the one available in iOS.
- Braille Access through compatible braille devices allowing for note taking, access to more books and live captions for braille displays.
- An Accessibility Reader mode across iOS, Mac and Vision Pro.
- Live Captions for Apple Watch.
- Enhanced View on Vision Pro.
- Other features and updates are listed on its blog.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day is on May 15.
