Latest news with #SwitchControl
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Apple wants to connect thoughts to iPhone control – and there's a very good reason for it
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Apple announced plans to support Switch Control for Brain-Computer Interfaces The tool would make devices like iPhones and Vision Pro headsets accessible for people with conditions like ALS Combined with Apple's AI-powered Personal Voice feature, brain-computer interfaces could allow people to think words and hear them spoken in a synthetic version of their voice Our smartphones and other devices are key to so many personal and professional tasks throughout the day. Using these devices can be difficult or outright impossible for those with ALS and other conditions. Apple thinks it has a possible solution: thinking. Specifically, a brain-computer interface (BCI) built with Australian neurotech startup Synchron that could provide hands-free, thought-controlled versions of the operating systems for iPhones, iPads, and the Vision Pro headset. A brain implant for controlling your phone may seem extreme, but it could be the key for those with severe spinal cord injuries or related injuries to engage with the world. Apple will support Switch Control for those with the implant embedded near the brain's motor cortex. The implant picks up the brain's electrical signals when a person thinks about moving. It translates that electrical activity and feeds it to Apple's Switch Control software, becoming digital actions like selecting icons on a screen or navigating a virtual environment. Of course, it's still early days for the system. It can be slow compared to tapping, and it will take time for developers to build better BCI tools. But speed isn't the point right now. The point is that people could use the brain implant and an iPhone to interact with a world they were otherwise locked out of. The possibilities are even greater when looking at how it might mesh with AI-generated personal voice clones. Apple's Personal Voice feature lets users record a sample of their own speech so that, if they lose their ability to speak, they can generate synthetic speech that still sounds like them. It's not quite indistinguishable from the real thing, but it's close, and much more human than the robotic imitation familiar from old movies and TV shows. Right now, those voices are triggered by touch, eye tracking, or other assistive tech. But with BCI integration, those same people could 'think' their voice into existence. They could speak just by intending to speak, and the system would do the rest. Imagine someone with ALS not only navigating their iPhone with their thoughts but also speaking again through the same device by "typing" statements for their synthetic voice clone to say. While it's incredible that a brain implant can let someone control a computer with their mind, AI could take it to another level. It wouldn't just help people use tech, but also to be themselves in a digital world. Apple is about to make Personal Voice faster and better, and update almost all of its other accessibility features The ultimate AI search face-off - I pitted Claude's new search tool against ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, and Gemini, the results might surprise you 4 ChatGPT features I hope Apple adds to Siri Apple Intelligence feels like the HomePod all over again
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
Apple 預告支援人腦控制 iPhone 操作的一系列全新無障礙功能
Apple 宣佈將於今年底推出一系列全新無障礙功能，進一步提升旗下產品對殘障人士及特殊需求用戶的友好性。其中一項值得關注的新功能，是來自 Apple 與初創公司 Synchron 合作開發的 Switch Control，這是基於腦植入技術讓用戶能以神經信號控制 iPhone 及其他設備，是能讓重度身體殘障用戶能夠使用 iOS、macOS、visionOS 裝置的人機交互操作協議。 Apple 將推出 Accessibility Nutrition Labels，為 App Store 的應用程式和遊戲提供更詳細的無障礙功能資訊，方便用戶選擇適合的軟件。同時，Apple 設備（包括 iPhone、iPad、Mac 和 Apple Vision Pro）將新增 Braille Access 工具，可將設備轉換為點字筆記本，提升視障用戶的文書處理能力。 以下為部分即將新增的無障礙功能簡介： Accessibility Reader：一個系統級的閱讀模式，專為閱讀障礙用戶設計，提供直觀的文本呈現與語音朗讀。 可分享的無障礙設定：用戶可輕鬆與家人或照護人員共享個人化的無障礙設定，避免重複配置。 升級的 Live Listen 和 Background Sounds：改善聽力輔助功能，提供更清晰的音頻輸出。 Personal Voice 功能：幫助語音能力受損的用戶定制屬於自己的數字聲音。 Vehicle Motion Cues：針對行動受限用戶的車輛移動提示功能，提升導航安全性。 Apple 此次推出的多項無障礙功能，從硬件到軟件全面覆蓋，並展現出未來對腦植入技術應用的前瞻性思考。這不僅是對科技輔助功能的一次升級，更是對「科技為人」理念的具體實踐。未來，Apple 或將繼續引領無障礙科技的創新潮流，讓更多人受益於科技的力量。 更多內容： Apple unveils powerful accessibility features coming later this year Apple announces new accessibility features, including future support for brain implants 緊貼最新科技資訊、網購優惠，追隨 Yahoo Tech 各大社交平台！ 🎉📱 Tech Facebook： 🎉📱 Tech Instagram： 🎉📱 Tech WhatsApp 社群： 🎉📱 Tech WhatsApp 頻道： 🎉📱 Tech Telegram 頻道：
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple Bets On Brain Signals To Boost Accessibility
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is adding a suite of new accessibility toolsEye Tracking, Head Tracking, Switch Control for Brain Computer Interfaces, Assistive Access, Music Haptics, Name Recognition in Sound Recognition, expanded Voice Control and Large Text CarPlay supportall designed to let users navigate iOS and Apple Vision Pro hands-free. Eye and Head Tracking let you select and type by gazing or nodding, while the new Switch Control partners with Synchron's implantable Stentrode electrodes to read neural signals and operate your device. Tim Cook says, Accessibility is part of our DNA, and this neural-interface leap could transform life for users with paralysis or ALS by unlocking tens of thousands of potential new users. Apple's partnership with Synchron taps into cutting-edge BCI workakin to Elon Musk's Neuralink, which plans to implant its Blindsight device in 2030 patients later this yearpositioning Apple at the forefront of consumer-grade neural tech. Beyond BCIs, Apple is simplifying TV navigation with Assistive Access and giving deaf and hard-of-hearing users Name Recognition in Sound Recognition, while Music Haptics and expanded Voice Control support widen its reach. These updates follow reports that the Wall Street Journal first broke about Switch Control's neural feature and come as Apple aims to cement its promise of technology for everyone. Why it matters: By weaving brain signals into iPhone control, Apple isn't just expanding its accessibility toolkitit's betting neural interfaces are the next consumer frontier. Investors will watch adoption metrics and any FDA feedback on the Stentrode partnership when Apple reports Q3 results later this summer. Apple's current share price of $211.67 sits well above most traditional valuation benchmarks, signaling that investors are pricing in robust growth expectations. The GuruFocus GF Value estimate of $197.36 comes closest to today's levels, suggesting only a slim margin of safety, while the earnings-based DCF at $168.27 and the FCF-based DCF at $132.68 offer more conservative anchors. Metrics rooted in historical performancelike the Median PS Value of $144.82 and Peter Lynch's $96.57 figureimply that the stock is trading at a substantial premium to its past sales and earnings power. Measures that focus on balance-sheet strength, such as the Tangible Book at $4.47 and the negative Net Current Asset Value of $9.76, barely register against Apple's real-world market heft. Even the Graham Number of $26.71 and the Earnings Power Value of $63.11 point to a valuation far below where the market has placed the stock. In sum, unless Apple delivers outsized growth or margin expansion, today's price appears to rest on optimistic forecasts rather than the support of most conservative valuation frameworks. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
