China moves to set global standards for brain-computer interface technology

As Beijing prioritises development of the technology, a China-led committee aims to dictate how it is built

China has taken a major step in spearheading the standardisation of brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies, as it now chairs the secretariat of a subcommittee jointly overseen by two key international organisations and lists the technology applications as a national development priority.

The China-led subcommittee, known as ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 43, was set to formulate global standards regarding the communication and interaction between brains and computers that are applicable across application areas, according to abstracts on both websites of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

The committee, chaired by Yu Yuntao, a technical director with the China Electronics Standardization Institute, has already published several standards, including the BCI vocabulary, data format for non-invasive brain information collection, reference architecture and use cases.

“The [Chinese] government is betting on this industry, among others, as one that has the potential to become the next EV sector,” said Xiaomeng Lu, director of geo-technology at Eurasia Group.