This Startup Wants to Put Its Brain-Computer Interface in the Apple Vision Pro

"Now, Cognixion is bringing its AI communication app to the Vision Pro, which Forsland says has more functionality than the purpose-built Axon-R. "The Vision Pro gives you all of your apps, the app store, everything you want to do," he says. Apple opened the door to BCI integration in May, when it announced a new protocol to allow users with severe mobility disabilities to control the iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro without physical movement."

"In Cognixion's trial, the company has swapped out Apple's headband for its own, which is embedded with six electroencephalographic, or EEG, sensors. These collect information from the brain's visual and parietal cortex, located at the back of the head. Specifically, Cognixion's system identifies visual fixation signals, which occur when a person is maintaining their gaze on an object. This allows users to select from a menu of options in the interface using mental attention alone."

""The philosophy of our approach is around reducing the amount of burden that is being generated by the person's communication needs," says Chris Ullrich, Cognixion's chief technology officer. Current communication tools can help but aren't ideal. For instance, low-tech handheld letterboards allow patients to look at certain letters, words, or pictures so that a caregiver can guess their meaning, but they're time-consuming to use. And eye tracking technology is still expensive and not always reliable."

Cognixion adapted its AI communication app for Apple Vision Pro, replacing Apple's headband with a six-sensor EEG headband to read visual and parietal cortex signals. The system detects visual fixation signals to let users select menu options using sustained gaze and mental attention, while a neural computing pack at the hip processes brain data outside the headset. Apple added a BCI integration protocol enabling control of iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro without physical movement, and other companies like Synchron have integrated with Vision Pro. Cognixion builds individualized AIs from participants' speech history and style to reduce communication burden compared with letterboards and costly eye-tracking.

Read at WIRED