Facebook has acquired the neurotechnology startup CTRL-labs, which works on a technology that allows people to control digital devices using their mind.
$1 Billion Deal
Andrew Bosworth, Facebook's vice president of augmented and virtual reality divisions, who announced the deal in a Facebook post on Monday, said that the startup will become part of Facebook Reality Labs, formerly known as the Oculus Research.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, CNBC said that the deal was between $500 million and $1 billion. A Facebook spokesperson said the deal was lower than $1 billion.
Wristband That Uses Neuron Signals To Control Devices
Facebook's new acquisition aims for the development of a wristband that can control smartphones, computers, and other devices without the need to touch a screen or keyboard.
The New York-based startup has been working on a wristband that decodes the electrical signals that neurons in the spinal cord send to the hand muscles. These signals tell the hands to move in specific ways such as click the mouse or press a button. The wristband then decodes the signals and translates them into the digital device that can understand these signals.
New Way For People To Connect With Each Other
The social media company appears to be setting its eyes on changing how people communicate. It has been working on a computer-brain interface that would allow people to type words and send messages using only their brain since 2016.
Bosworth said that technologies such as the mind-reading wristband offer new possibilities on how people connect with each other.
"Technology like this has the potential to open up new creative possibilities and reimagine 19th century inventions in a 21st century world. This is how our interactions in VR and AR can one day look. It can change the way we connect," he said in his post.
