This is not about Elon Musk — this is far more interesting and concrete than whatever he’s up to with Neuralink.

For the Canadian Press, Nicole Ireland writes about the research being done by Susannah Van Damme and her team at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto. (Disclosure/humblebrag: Dr. Chau, from the article, was at my wedding — my wife worked with him then). They’ve been doing amazing things for years there, and here’s what they’re up to now:

The brain computer interface works like an on-off switch triggered by electrical patterns in the brain. While wearing a headset with EEG electrodes, the child is asked to think about something specific that will serve as a “command” thought. The child is then asked to relax and put their mind in a quiet, passive state, which serves as the “stop” thought.

The electrodes transmit those electrical signals to a computer, where they are saved. The computer is trained through artificial intelligence to recognize those specific brain patterns when it sees them again and start or stop whatever device it’s connected to — such as Giselle’s rolling wheelchair platform.

Here’s how it works:

I’ve seen their work before and, it turns out, posted about it too. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype cycle of AI or tech company promises/vaporware, but this is actually changing lives every day. As much as we all await big breakthroughs, real progress is often slow, incremental steps. Almost 20 years ago Dr. Chau was doing the Virtual Musical Instrument, which was innovative for its time, but you can see how it leads directly into the beautiful things they’re doing now:

For another activity, the team attaches the computer to a bubble maker. The same command thoughts that allow Giselle to move her wheelchair now allow her to make bubbles appear.

In a game of “freeze,” the computer is programmed to play music when she thinks her command thought. As the Barney dance song plays, Giselle turns the music on and off as her mom and hospital staff dance around her. When she stops the music to make them freeze in position, Giselle smiles with delight.

That last paragraph alone brought a tear to my eye. It’s a great piece, and here’s the website of the lab where they do this magic.