The coming age of brain-computer interfaces: a conversation with Conor Russomanno, co-founder and CEO of OpenBCI

I’m publishing a series of discussions with entrepreneurs affiliated with RLab that are developing or applying future interface technologies across a range of sectors. This discussion is with Conor Russomanno, co-founder and CEO of OpenBCI, a Brooklyn startup that develops open source brain-computer interface (BCI) software and hardware.

JUSTIN: You’re working in a very exciting area that promises to radically change how we interact with machines. 

CONOR: We started OpenBCI six years ago. At that time there weren't that many low cost tools for interfacing with signals from the body or the brain and translating that data into something that a computer can understand. It's been really cool to see what’s emerged over the last six years. We are making it much, much easier for technologists to get that information and try to make sense of it and put it to use. Extrapolating five to ten years from now, I think the tools will finally be in place to start really building out applications that span all industries. I'm most interested in understanding human cognition and understanding and expanding consciousness. Why does the brain react to the world? How does it react? And are there ways that we can adapt experiences or build experiences that are responsive to the individual?

JUSTIN: So in five or ten years’ time, if we've got more of these types of sensors and computing systems on our person and in our environment, how will we apply them?

CONOR: I think eventually we're going to move away from handheld displays and the majority of digital content we interact with is going to be through a head mounted display. Early versions of this exist- whether HoloLens or the Quest. The technology is only going to get better. It's becoming more mainstream to wear tech on your body, and the opportunity that presents to entrepreneurs and engineers in the BCI space is to elegantly integrate new systems for understanding human physiology and human psychology into wearable computers. We are trying to build the foundation to better understand human cognition. In the context of anything, whether it's gaming or working at your desktop and having a better understanding of when you're focused, and when you're fatigued, and using that information to optimize your routine. Or perhaps in terms of healthcare. We want to have systems that are combining measures of heart rate and respiration and brain activity. I think that we're going to have much better detection of common diseases, a much better understanding of things like depression, anxiety, and what external factors truly influence those conditions and those states of mind. 

JUSTIN: What does the ecosystem around brain-computer interfaces look like right now?

CONOR: Most of the real innovation right now, at least in the public domain, is taking place outside of major technology companies. But naturally as the industry emerges, you're going to see more things like Facebook acquiring CTRL Labs. That was a pretty big milestone for the industry. I think that that's just the beginning. At OpenBCI, we want to see the democratization of transparent technology and keep tools in the hands of the people, to at least maintain a balance over time and help steer the conversation on the ethics of how these tools should be implemented at scale. There are potentially dystopian outcomes- corporations maintaining ownership and exclusive databases of human cognition. I really like the idea that the best way to predict the future is to build it. The best way to avoid certain scenarios is to design the alternative and just make sure that that happens first. I think that there are a lot of people that share this mentality that have been working in neuroscience and the neuro tech spaces for a long time and that's one thing I really have to be grateful for. It’s an uphill battle in terms of protecting people's data and keeping people informed as to the potential pitfalls and ethical black holes. But I am optimistic.

JUSTIN: You represent the kind of trans-disciplinary persona that a lot of people believe needs to be expressed more generally, both in individuals and across teams. What do you think is going to be important for people to be able to do to participate in this future that you imagine?

CONOR: I'm very grateful for the diverse academic background I have, getting to do engineering for a while and then switching gears and really focusing on art and design. I think the juxtaposition does define my approach to building things. I think it's really important to diversify your experiences and try to form multiple perspectives to address problems. I graduated from Columbia with an engineering degree, then went to grad school to pursue the Design and Technology MFA at Parsons. In engineering, you have a very discreet way of determining success or failure. Then jumping into a fine arts program where everything is subjective and qualitative, it was such a rude awakening for me. I’m a big believer in design thinking and thinking about user experience, and I think it is really important to diversify your experiences and try not to just focus only on the what, but rather also the why.

JUSTIN: My understanding of BCI and neural interfaces is minimal but it seems to me we are learning that the brain is remarkably plastic. It doesn't really necessarily need to rely only on the sensors that are available to it naturally- it seems it can plug into anything. What do you think that ultimately means?

CONOR: The brain is highly adaptable. I think it's one of the coolest things. For example, take individuals that are born blind. The visual cortex is repurposed. It’s not like all of those neurons just don’t work- they don’t fizzle out and die- they get adapted to improve the other senses and become a primary region of the cortex for other processing. That same principle can be applied to other things. Anybody who has been typing on a keyboard their entire life kind of takes it for granted that they know how to do that and that they can do it without really thinking about it. But, you know, that is a great example of how plastic the brain is- we can now speak through our fingers. There is a physical understanding of the buttons that is nearly subconscious. You've got nerves that go all the way through your spine and into every muscle of your body. Your muscles are just these amazing biological amplifiers of electricity. Those signals are coming directly from the brain. All of this information can be processed and repurposed for other outputs, non natural outputs, if you will. 

JUSTIN: How does it change the way you think about reality generally?

CONOR: Probably varies on a day to day basis. I'm just so grateful to be working in this space, knowing that it's going to be such a valuable part of the advancement of the human species and the way that we interact with the world and with each other. We need to make sure we do it right. I think that there are a lot of trends in recent times that make it clear that we need to be very careful about making sure that we’re protecting the collective human consciousness while we're building these systems. When I first started OpenBCI, I thought it was all about the brain, the brain is the goal, all of the information is in there. But over the last six years what I've stumbled upon gradually is that a lot of these signals are really the propagation of data. We're not really interested in the brain. We're really interested in the mind. We're interested in what we think the brain harbors, which is human intention, human emotion, human reaction. You know, human motivation. Over time, what I've realized is that information is actually, in many cases, better represented by the body. Even though the original messages and the core processing is taking place in the brain, the data that we can latch onto as designers and technologists is actually all over our body. It all boils down to the same thing, which is what drives us, what compels us, what excites us? And how do we use that information for good, for benefiting humanity, for helping humans in need and extending our capabilities as a species?

JUSTIN: That's probably a good place for us to stop. Thank you Conor.

Learn more about RLab and its current accelerator cohort in collaboration with Super Ventures.