Powering the brain-controlled tech of the future

Hello there,

We’re back in the world of deep tech today, with a startup that wants to carve out a space for itself right in the centre of the brain-controlled tech space.

Scroll down to read all about Cogitat. As usual, PreSeed Now members get the full story.

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– Martin

Can Cogitat power the future of brain-controlled tech?

No matter the attention companies like Neuralink, Meta, and Snap-owned NextMind have shone on the field in recent years, brain-computer interfaces still feel like something of a sci-fi dream.

But having a direct connection that allows you to, for example, move an on-screen object by just willing it to move with your brain would be mightily useful in all sorts of contexts, and it feels like an obvious step we should be able to make soon given the amount of publicity various efforts in that direction have received in recent years.

With this in mind, London startup Cogitat–an Imperial College spinout–is working on making it easier for developers to add brain control to their apps and hardware.

The idea is that by providing a high-quality interpreter, the startup will lower the barrier to entry for brain-controlled applications without the need for its customers to have their own proprietary tech for the task.

“We're really trying to connect the mind and machine together,” says co-founder and CEO Allan Ponniah. “Essentially, our aims within the company are to build a core brainwave decoding technology; to allow anybody to convert their thoughts into actions.”

How it works

Rather than get involved with brain implants or other specific ways of discerning intent from your thoughts, Cogitat is working on delivering what it aims to be the best possible decoder for translating brain activity into digital actions.

“Essentially we're building technology to work with anybody, anytime, any device, and any place,” says Ponniah.

Co-founder and CTO, Dimitrios Adamos explains further: “Our decoders get an EEG signal in the input and give out predictions about what happened to the output, and that can translate into a control signal.