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The beginning of mind-reading technology? No, it's not science fiction

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode Brain Hacks.

Imagine sending an email...by just thinking it. Neurotechnologist Conor Russomanno is building brain-sensing headsets that he says will usher in a new era of mind-reading technology.

About Conor Russomanno

Conor Russomanno is the founder and CEO of OpenBCI, a company working to build ethical brain-computer interfaces. He became fascinated with the relationship between the human brain and mind after suffering concussions playing college football and rugby. While pursuing an MFA in Design & Technology at Parsons School of Design, he spent two years creating DIY brain-sensing headsets and neuro-interactive games, animations and stories. In 2013, he began work on what would later become OpenBCI, which has since designed and distributed more than 40,000 tools to scientists and researchers in more than 100 countries around the world. One of Russomanno's leading innovations is the Galea headset, a hardware and software platform that merges next-generation biometrics with mixed reality.

Russomanno's work has been featured in media outlets such as Bloomberg, Scientific American and Wired. He was recognized in the Forbes "30 Under 30" in 2018 and has served as an adjunct professor and research affiliate at Parsons, NYU and MIT.

This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by Katie Monteleone and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour and Manoush Zomorodi with help from Harsha Nahata. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadioHour@npr.org.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.
Katie Monteleone
Katie Monteleone is a producer for TED Radio Hour. She started out as an intern for the show in January 2019. After her internship, Monteleone began producing for Life Kit before returning to the TED Radio Hour team in October 2019 as a full-time producer.
Harsha Nahata
Harsha Nahata (she/her) is a producer for TED Radio Hour. She is drawn to storytelling as a way to explore ideas about identity and question dominant narratives.
Sanaz Meshkinpour