Galen Bakwalter, a user of a brain-computer interface (BCI), has learned to create music using only his thoughts. He shared his experience in an interview with Wired.
Bakwalter collaborates with Caltech graduate student Sean Darcy, who developed an algorithm that transforms neural signals into sound.
For many years, Bakwalter has been a member of the Los Angeles punk rock band Siggy. He has already incorporated some of the generated audio fragments into the track "Wirehead."
"Even before the implant, I saw a YouTube video about mushrooms: if you connect electrodes to them, you can hear their sounds. [...] I thought, if a mushroom can 'squeak,' I want to know what my brain sounds like. From day one, we talked about this with the researchers, and graduate student Sean Darcy developed software that translates thoughts into sound control," Bakwalter commented.
Researchers identify the neurons that Bakwalter can consciously control and assign a specific tone to each. When activated, the neuron increases the pitch of the sound.
Currently, Bakwalter can produce two tones simultaneously.
"In the future, I envision having a whole DJ setup in my head: I could create rhythms and layer melodies," he noted.
Sound is produced when the activity of a neuron exceeds a certain threshold. To create sound, he simply thinks about movement. To stop the sound, he must concentrate harder.
Bakwalter suffers from quadriplegia due to a diving accident at age 16. In 2024, he agreed to undergo brain surgery to implant the BCI as part of a Caltech study.
Six chips from Blackrock Neurotech are implanted in Bakwalter's brain. They read neural activity and decode intentions for actions. The system allows him to control a computer with his thoughts, regain sensitivity in his fingers, and, recently, create music.
Other BCI users also utilize implants to create digital art. In 2023, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science exhibition in Washington, Nathan Copeland, James Johnson, and Jan Scheuerman showcased their works.
In March, Professor Xu Guanghua's team developed a method to control a robotic dog using thought.