Apple Vision Pro’s visionOS will get support for brain-computer interface (BCI) input devices later this year, starting with Synchron’s.
Apple says these devices will be supported via a new BCI HID protocol, and activated as part of Switch Control on iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS.
It comes as the company just announced other new accessibility features coming to Vision Pro later this year, including the ability to magnify passthrough, as well as to describe, find, or read anything in your view using on-device AI.
David Heaney
BCI company Synchron says its Stentrode implant will be the first to support Apple’s new protocol. Stentrode began trials in 2019, and it’s the first permanent BCI implant that does not require open brain surgery, being inserted through the jugular vein instead.
In August last year Synchron first demonstrated Stentrode as a replacement for the pinch on an Apple Vision Pro, using a not officially supported technique. The person, who has ALS, selected interface elements with their eye gaze as usual, but “clicked” by simply thinking about clicking.
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Synchron’s 2024 demo of visionOS BCI control.
And earlier this year, Synchron teamed up with Nvidia to demonstrate Stentrode being used with Apple Vision Pro to let another person with ALS control smart home devices such as speakers, fans, and robot vacuums.
That demo seems to have leveraged passthrough camera access, which Apple currently only provides for non-public enterprise apps “for use in a business setting only”, and getting this access requires a special license from Apple.
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Synchron and Nvidia’s 2025 demo of Vision Pro + BCI smart home control.
With the upcoming protocol from Apple, Synchron’s Stentrode will be an officially supported visionOS input device, letting people with one implanted easily click elements in Apple Vision Pro’s visionOS.
The combination of eye tracking for selection and non-invasive BCI for clicking seems like an ideal XR input system for people with severe mobility disabilities, and one we expect to be adopted widely as more standalone headsets incorporate eye tracking in coming years.
