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of the brain . But as some have lasted for over five years , I don ’ t think this is the main obstacle , as you ’ ll probably want to get a new one anyway after that much time has passed .
If you ask me , the biggest problem is that people have a plug on their head with wires everywhere connecting them to a computer . For this to become a product people can use at home , it will have to be largely technician-free and
located entirely inside the skull .
At the Wyss Center , we are trying to do exactly that : develop an implantable system that can radio out the signals . That is very hard , because we need to make the entire device small , and it will need a very good battery . If you can use this only 45 minutes a day to save power , it ’ s not worth it . So that ’ s what we are working on right now .
Tim Vernimmen is a freelance journalist based near Antwerp , Belgium . He writes about the science of life .
This article
originally appeared in Knowable Magazine on 12.04.2018 . Knowable Magazine is an independent journalistic endeavor from Annual Reviews , a nonprofit publisher dedicated to synthesizing and integrating knowledge for the progress of science and the benefit of society .
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