Chinese scientists have achieved a groundbreaking advancement in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, enabling individuals to communicate complex Chinese sentences using only their thoughts. This innovation offers new hope for patients who have lost the ability to speak due to conditions like stroke.
A team of researchers from Shanghai-based startup INSIDE and Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University collaborated on this project. They implanted electrodes into participants with epilepsy, allowing the custom-built intelligent system to decode brain activities associated with intended speech.
On average, after just 100 minutes of training, the system could interpret brain signals corresponding to 54 Chinese characters in real-time. Building on this, it accurately recognized 1,951 common words and generated complete Chinese sentences in under half a second, with virtually no limit to length.
“Unlike English’s basic phonemes, Mandarin involves over 400 nuanced syllables,” explained Li Meng, INSIDE’s chief scientist. The team utilized data from the world’s largest human brainwave database, developed by Huashan Hospital, achieving over 83% accuracy in identifying phonetic components.
Looking ahead, researchers envision this technology allowing users to control smart environments or even create expressive artworks through generative AI systems.
Huashan Hospital has been actively involved in BCI clinical trials. In August 2023, neurosurgeons implanted a 256-channel flexible BCI device, designed by Shanghai-based NeuroXess, into a 21-year-old female patient with epilepsy. Within 48 hours post-procedure, she successfully engaged in table tennis and computer games using brain control.
Earlier, in June, a man from the Chinese mainland who lost all four limbs in a high-voltage electrical accident 13 years ago was able to play chess and racing games using only his mind. This was made possible after a revolutionary procedure at Huashan Hospital, where a BCI device designed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences was implanted in his brain.
Designating BCI as a strategic future industry, Shanghai is fostering innovation by building BCI incubators and cultivating an ecosystem. The city aims to achieve high-quality brain control and fully integrate BCI products into clinical applications by 2030.
