Valve · OpenBCI · Tobii Galea OpenBCI's multi-sensor headset, built with Valve and Tobii to work alongside the Valve Index. Gabe Newell has called BCIs something every game developer should be thinking about now. Road to VR coverage
Implants · research Starfish Neuroscience Gabe Newell's separate neurotech company, working on a tiny electrophysiology chip for future wireless implants. Medical research, not a gaming headset. Don't confuse it with Galea. What Starfish has built
Apple · Synchron BCI as a native input In May 2025 Apple announced a BCI Human Interface Device protocol. Synchron's implanted Stentrode was the first to use it, with native control of iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro for people with paralysis. Synchron announcement
Meta Neural Band Surface EMG at the wrist, shipped with Ray-Ban Display in September 2025. Not a brain reader, but the clearest sign yet that neural-signal input is coming to XR. UploadVR hands-on
Snap NextMind acquisition Snap bought the Paris visual-BCI startup in 2022 for AR glasses research and discontinued the developer kit, which cut off a promising VR hobby platform. TechCrunch report
In force August 2024 Colorado HB 24-1058 made neural data sensitive data under the Colorado Privacy Act, the first state law of its kind.
In force January 2025 California SB 1223 extended the California Consumer Privacy Act's protections to neural data.
In force October 2025 Montana SB 163 brought neurotechnology data under the state's Genetic Information Privacy Act.
Episode 996 Galea and neuro-privacy OpenBCI on the Valve collaboration, and what it means to put this many biometric sensors on a consumer's face. Listen
Episode 365 Democratising neuroscience OpenBCI's early vision, and using biofeedback to adapt VR content to the person inside it. Listen