Elon Musk's Neuralink will connect the human brain to a computer

Elon Musk's next business venture and one of his most ambitious projects is to make the human brain and computers directly connected. The project is called Neuralink and to date, the reality of it seemed like science fiction myth, but it will actually materialise sooner than anticipated.

A few days ago Musk revealed that his latest startup plans promising to show an update of its brain-computer interface at the end of this year. 

Neuralink has evolved slowly but steadily. Last July the South African entrepreneur and inventor assured the world that his technology had already allowed a monkey to exercise control of the computer with its brain. Musk who is also co-founder of PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX or Hyperloop predicted that by the end of last year his device could be used by a patient with brain injuries or congenital defects. It seems he was too optimistic about the date but not the result itself.

In a tweet, the technology guru said that "the profound impact of high-bandwidth, high-precision neural interfaces has been underestimated. Neuralink may be ready for humans as soon as early as this year".

It will be seen in a keynote

Musk has been quite cautious with his invention and predicts that it will still be a while before it can be used in the market. "First we need it to be super-safe and make it easy to use, and then we need to determine the best utility versus risk. From initial work to volume production and implementation, it's a long way," he said in another tweet.

He is convinced that the possibility of connecting the brain to a computer has multiple applications and possibilities and could be revolutionary for various fields. For example, he believes it can help us overcome disabilities and injuries, improve accessibility and compensate for entire sections of the brain that have been lost due to a stroke or accident. "The potential is really transformative in restoring motor and brain function," he says. Ultimately, he even envisions how it could help us compete with the increasingly intelligent artificial intelligence.

If all goes according to plan Musk believes that Neuralink will be as disruptive to many patients as Tesla has been for electric cars or SpaceX for rockets.