![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1777715529_909_default.jpg\")
In this still image from a promotional video, Claire, her mother Stephanie, and her brother play at home with the help of a brain-computer interface. (Submitted by Dion Kelly)<\/p>\nLISTEN | How brain-computer interfaces have been life changing for some:<\/p>\n
The Current23:20A headband that translates thoughts into action<\/p>\n
When Claire Sonnenberg was born with cerebral palsy, her parents were told she would never talk, walk or do much of anything on her own.<\/p>\n
Now the smart and smiley 10-year-old plays video games, bakes and makes smoothies and pores over books using a brain-computer interface (BCI), technology that allows her to control devices and communicate using only her thoughts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hear her speak, we hear her say I love you, we hear her activate her jeep and drive across the lawn \u2014 it’s magic,\u201d said Claire\u2019s mom, Stephanie Sonnenberg, who lives in Okotoks, Alta.<\/p>\n
Claire has been using the technology since she was three years old through a research project run by the University of Calgary and Alberta Children\u2019s Hospital. She wears a headband that can read her brainwaves, transmitting signals to an app that interprets them for connected devices, allowing her to communicate through a tablet.<\/p>\n
Last month, the technology Claire uses was released to the general public as an app called Think2Switch.<\/p>\n
In this still image from a promotional video, Claire, her mother Stephanie, and her brother play at home with the help of a brain-computer interface. (Submitted by Dion Kelly)<\/p>\n
While BCI has been used in research settings for some 50 years, the app’s aim is to make it accessible and simple to use, says Dion Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Possibility Neurotechnologies, the startup that released the app.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor people who have not had the opportunity to interact with the world in any other way, it’s life changing,\u201d said the Calgary-based neuroscientist, who was also part of the original research team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How does it work?<\/p>\n
Contrary to popular belief, BCI can\u2019t read your mind, Kelly says. Instead, the app works like a translator, turning specific brainwaves into commands.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to actually teach the system to recognize what your thoughts mean,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The headband needs to be calibrated each time it\u2019s worn, which involves thinking of a specific word repeatedly, such as \u201cgo,\u201d for several seconds. The Think2Switch system then understands that when detected, this brain signal means \u201cgo.\u201d The process is repeated for other basic commands.<\/p>\n
The app requires a $35 monthly subscription, and has been designed to work with commercially available electroencephalography (EEG) headsets, which range from $200 to $500. These types of headsets record electrical activity in the brain via sensors on the scalp.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Instructional video from Think2Switch shows system set up:<\/p>\n
Kelly says they offered the app free of charge to an estimated 150 families during testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of these families \u2026 have been setting it up all by themselves, they don’t have the technical support,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to get their feedback so that we could know, \u2018OK, what do we have to make more clear, so that these non-technical families feel confident?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s currently only available on iOS devices, though Kelly says they plan to expand. It’s been downloaded almost three dozen times in the first couple of weeks.<\/p>\n
Are implants on the horizon?<\/p>\n
Tom Chau, who also researches pediatric BCI, says the technology is \u201cnot really as far-fetched as people might think,\u201d though previous research has focused on adults.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s only in the last decade or so that we’ve started to explore the opportunities with children,\u201d said Chau, a distinguished senior scientist and head of the PRISM Lab at the Bloorview Research Institute in Toronto. He is not involved with the Think2Switch app.<\/p>\n
BCI technology can be non-invasive, like a headband that you can take on or off, or invasive, like a device implanted directly in or on the brain.<\/p>\n
When asked if these devices could one day be implanted in kids\u2019 brains, Chau said \u201cit’s still early on in terms of that kind of research, particularly with children and youth.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he pointed to an existing device, the cochlear implant, \u201cas a bit of a template in terms of what’s possible.\u201d Cochlear implants are designed to be permanent implants that create a new hearing pathway by bypassing the damaged part of the ear to reach the auditory nerve.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t think implants are going to be for everyone \u2026 in some cases, it may be useful. But others may prefer the non-invasive approach,\u201d Chau said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe important thing is that all of these technologies are advancing simultaneously, very rapidly. And there’s going to be many options for families.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1777715529_63_default.jpg\")
BCI is life changing for people who have not had the opportunity to interact with the world in any other way, says Dion Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Possibility Neurotechnologies. (Submitted by Dion Kelly)<\/p>\n
Kelly notes Think2Switch is a non-invasive system because the headband can be easily removed and is \u201cnot just listening to your brain all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
She acknowledges there is a risk for families who become reliant on a private company\u2019s technology, only for that company to one day go out of business.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat actually happens quite often, which is very unfortunate because this is somebody’s way for them to participate and interact,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the first to really get out there, but I’m hoping that we’re not the last \u2026 I’m sure that there will be options for people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giving kids their voice<\/p>\n
Chau says this kind of technology could change how our society looks at children with disabilities \u2014 as well as what those kids can achieve.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of them are cognitively capable, they just haven’t had a means to express themselves. And so this is kind of the liberating power of BCIs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With the technology\u2019s help, Sonnenberg says she\u2019s learned a lot about her daughter. Claire always seemed drawn to blue, so she presumed that was her favourite colour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen she learned to speak, she told us her favourite colour was pink,\u201d Sonnenberg said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was incredible. I mean, it made me a little bit sad because I’d always put her in blue, but it was so amazing that she wanted to tell me basically to stop, that she liked pink.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LISTEN | How brain-computer interfaces have been life changing for some: The Current23:20A headband that translates thoughts into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-642773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}