Racing through Mario Kart using nobody but your thoughts is no longer the stuff of science fiction. At the Shenzhen Industrial Innovation Center for Brain Science and Technology in Guangming District, brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is already reshaping both healthcare and everyday life.
For patients who are paralyzed, invasive BCIs can enable communication, allowing some to type using eye-tracking cues. The impact is especially profound for people with ALS, a condition that gradually strips away a patient's ability to move and speak. ALS advocate Cai Lei is a beneficiary of such technology.
In 2025, Huashan Hospital of Fudan University teamed up with Shanghai StairMed Technology Co., Ltd. for a trial in which patients, after undergoing surgically implanted BCIs, controlled Mario Kart purely through thought.
DotDotNews reporter also tested a wearable Electroencephalography device designed to track relaxation and concentration in real time. After logging in via a phone, users can view live "mind PK" results. Typically, the more stable and relaxed the user is, the higher the score.
Can machine "brains" ever replace human brains? "Completely impossible," said Niu Li, the center's operations manager. Human brains, he explained, have independent thinking, while machine systems simply process and execute signals. "Our biological brains can regenerate. Machine brains depend entirely on what humans input."
Still, even if machine brains can't replace human ones, BCI technology is steadily expanding human possibilities.
(Reporter: Lynn Zhou | Camera: Lynn Zhou | Video Editing: Brayce Chen)
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