By GREGORY ZELLER //
A cutting-edge California company’s mind-over-matter brain/computer interface device has caught Northwell Health’s attention.
Santa Barbara-based startup Cognixion has announced a $12 million seed-funding round led by Wyoming-based Prime Movers Lab, a VC fund focused on transformative scientific breakthroughs. Among the other investors: Northwell Holdings & Ventures, entrepreneurial arm of the New Hyde Park-based health system.
The funding will help the production-stage biotech develop new adaptive interfaces for Cognixion One, a wearable, augmented reality-enhanced “neural interface” – essentially, a modem connecting the human brain and an AI-powered computer.
The non-invasive, wireless brain/computer interface detects user brainwaves and translates them into commands – ostensibly, unlocking speech and smart-home controls for those who struggle to control body movements or speech patterns.
By reading brainwaves “associated with visual fixation on interactive objects,” according to Cognixion, the head-mounted, augmented-reality display can enable hands-free, voice-free control of various applications – a potential game-changer for the physically disabled, including patients managing the symptoms of cerebral palsy, ALS, brainstem strokes and many other conditions.
Andreas Forsland: Solving issues, in reality.
Cognixion One looks like the virtual-reality goggles from a hundred futuristic movies, behaves like the skullplate connecting Captain Picard to the Borg and sounds a lot like science fiction – unlocking doors, making calls, controlling environmental settings and more, all with the power of thought?
But the patented technology works, and it’s available right now, according to Cognixion founder and Chief Executive Officer Andreas Forsland.
“Cognixion is solving usability and accessibility issues today for [augmented reality and extended reality], and enabling new capabilities for people with disabilities today,” Forsland said.
And with “highly adaptive algorithms that unlock new use cases for XR,” his 2014 startup is just getting started. “We see our innovations becoming a fundamental part of the metaverse,” the CEO added.
The $12 million seed round – backed also by the Amazon Alexa Fund, Amazon’s $200 million voice-tech booster, and Volta Circle, a UK-based VC fund – will help Cognixion develop those advanced algorithms, as well as an AI-powered language system that adapts to user nuances, creating a more intuitive interface.
The Santa Barbara company also plans to wirelessly synch the Cognixion One to the Amazon Alexa platform, giving users access to the popular smart assistant’s full functionality, and to Internet-based information.
Prime Movers Lab General Partner Amy Kruse called Cognixion One “a breakthrough human-machine interface that accelerates and enriches human communication and connection,” while Northwell Holdings & Ventures President and CEO Rich Mulry predicted healthy expansion into various healthcare provider markets.
“Cognixion’s technology has the potential to revolutionize the way patients with impairments can communicate in a variety of settings,” Mulry said in a statement.
Northwell Health Senior Vice President Souhel Najjar, the executive director of Northwell’s Neurology Service Line, trumpeted an exciting and massively disruptive technology – and indicated that Northwell researchers would play a part in its further expansions.
“[This] could profoundly change the means of communication for patients with physical and neurological impairments,” Najjar added. “We look forward to collaborating with the Cognixion team as they develop this technology.”
