Ctrl-labs raises $28 million from GV and Alexa Fund for
neural interfaces
On the
software side of the equation, the accompanying SDK is “more mature,” with
built-out JavaScript and TypeScript toolchains and new prebuilt demos that give
an idea of the hardware’s capabilities. Programming is largely done through
WebSockets, which provide a full-duplex communications channel.
“We’re
at the point of the launch where … we want to get it out [to] developers,”
Berenzweig said.
The
final version of Ctrl-kit will be in one piece, and it won’t be an entirely
self-contained affair. The developer kit has to be tethered to a PC for some
processing, but the goal is to get to the point where overhead is such that it
can run on wearable system-on-chips.
The
underlying tech remains the same. Ctrl-kit leverages differential
electromyography (EMG) to translate mental intent into action, specifically by
measuring changes in electrical potential caused by impulses traveling from the
brain to hand muscles. Sixteen electrodes monitor the motor neuron signals
amplified by the muscle fibers of motor units, from which they measure signals,
and with the help of AI algorithms trained using Google’s TensorFlow
distinguish between the individual pulses of each nerve.
The
system works independently of muscle movement; generating a brain activity
pattern that Ctrl-labs’ tech can detect requires no more than the firing of a
neuron down an axon, or what neuroscientists call action potential. That puts
it a class above wearables that use electroencephalography (EEG), a technique
that measures electrical activity in the brain through contacts pressed against
the scalp. EMG devices draw from the cleaner, clearer signals from motor
neurons, and as a result are limited only by the accuracy of the software’s
machine learning model and the snugness of the contacts against the skin
As for
what Ctrl-labs expects its early adopters to build with Ctrl-kit, video games
top the list — particularly virtual reality games, which Berenzweig believes
are a natural fit for the sort of immersive experiences EMG can deliver.
(Imagine swiping through an inventory screen with a hand gesture, or piloting a
fighter jet just by thinking about the direction you want to fly.) And not too
long ago, Ctrl-labs demonstrated a virtual keyboard that maps finger movements
to PC inputs, allowing a wearer to type messages by tapping on a tabletop with
their fingertips.
It
remains to be seen if Ctrl-labs can succeed where others have failed. In
October, Amazon-backed wearables company Thalmic Labs killed its
gesture- and motion-guided Myo armband, which similarly tapped the electrical
activity in arm muscles to control devices.
Still,
it’s managed to attract talent like former Apple autonomous systems engineer
Tarin Ziyaee, who’s heading up dev at Ctrl-labs’ San Francisco office, and
Anthony Moschella, previously vice president of product at Peloton and
MakerBot. Moreover, investors like Erik Nordlander, general partner at GV, are
convinced that Ctrl-labs’ early momentum — in addition to the robustness of its
developer tools — will help it gain an early lead in the brain-machine
interface race.
“Ctrl-labs’
development of neural interfaces will empower developers to create novel
experiences across a wide variety of applications,” he said. “The company has
assembled a team of top neuroscientists, engineers, and developers with deep
technology backgrounds, creating human-computer interactions unlike anything we
have seen before.”
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Amazon’s Alexa Fund joins $28M round for
CTRL-labs, makers of neural interface technology
CTRL-labs connects the human brain to a machine via a wrist-worn
device. (CTRL-labs Photo)
CTRL-labs,
the New York-based startup that is reimagining how the human brain can connect
with machines, has closed another big funding round, with Amazon’s Alexa Fund
pitching in on the $28 million haul.
The
round was led by GV, according to a news release on Friday, and Amazon was
joined by Lux Capital, Spark Capital, Matrix Partners, Breyer Capital,
and Fuel Capital. A previous round last May also raised $28 million and
included the late Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital among investors.
The
company was co-founded by Thomas Reardon, who helped develop Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer web browser, and Patrick Kaifosh, a theoretical
neuroscientist. CTRL-labs has raised $67 million to date and the latest round
will help with, among other things, the building and
distribution of its developer kit, CTRL-kit, currently in preview for select
partners.
With a
wristband that picks up signals from the brain and allows users to control a
digital device without moving a finger, CTRL-labs’ long-term vision is
to pave the way for mass consumer adoption of non-invasive neural
interface technology. The new kind of universal controller is meant to “empower
humans to harness their machines as natural extensions of thought and
movement,” according to the company.
“Like
the developers and creators we hear from, we feel fundamentally dissatisfied
with the pervading technologies of the last century,” Reardon said in a
statement. “Our objective with CTRL-kit is to give the industry’s most
ambitious minds the tools they need to reimagine the relationship between
humans and machines.”
Check
out some of these videos, demonstrating CTRL-labs technology in action:
And
here’s Reardon introducing CTRL-kit at the startup event Slush 2018 in
December:
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