Brain Computer Interface (BCI) Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Global Industry Analysis: By Drug class (Invasive BCI, Partially Invasive BCI, Non-Invasive BCI, Others), By Application (Healthcare, Gaming & Entertainment, Defense & Security, Smart Home Control, Communication & Control, Education & Research, Others), By End User (Hospitals & Clinics, Research & Academic Institutions, Defense Organizations, Others) and Region Forecast 2020-2031

Brain Computer Interface (BCI) Market Dynamics

Drivers

One of the key factors driving the growth of the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) market is the rising incidence of neurological and neurodegenerative disorders on a worldwide scale. Millions upon millions suffer from diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, spinal cord injuries, or paralysis from stroke, all of which frequently come with severe impacts on movement and communication. BCIs aim to provide a communication pathway between the brain and an external device, thereby allowing patients to gain access to their ability to move, speak or engage with assistive technologies, in many situations, allowing patients to improve their quality of life. The increase in the burden of neurological disorders has stimulated investment from governments, research institutes, and private organizations in the development of neurotechnology. For example, neuroprosthetics using BCI systems aimed at restoring ambulatory ability to paralyzed patients have been developed, and BCI headsets that can sense brain states, are being used in cognitive rehabilitation. As health care systems shift towards better technologies to manage neurorehabilitation and improve patient care, the BCI demand continues to prosper, and neurological disorders remain a major growth driver in the global BCI market.

Restraints

High costs and technological complexities are expected to hamper market over the forecast period. Producing BCI systems requires high tech hardware, complex algorithms, and sensors sensitive enough to represent neural activity accurately. In geology, a set of complexities means all these developed costs should be expensive to produce, install, and maintain. Large research centers and large hospitals are the only people using it because of costs like this. Government funded programs also use it. Compared to BCI, invasive BCIs, require surgical implantations to penetrate skulls to access the brain. Invasive BCIs have the associated risks of needing trained professionals to successfully implant complicated hardware into the skull, making them less common. Invaluable information to safeguard in professional sports or ensuring only the best options are marketed doesn't seem to translate to rapid use. Meanwhile, developing regions are limited in affordability while working locally, emphasizing an access gap for products primarily available in advanced economies. To make matters worse, other than cost, complications regarding operational usability, variability in time sort, high false positives and susceptibility to interference remain hurdles to persistent use. There are cheaper and easier products at a lower cost for generalized functions such as video games, consumer wearables or fitness technology with BCIs (and other interfaces)) making slow progress (penetration) to commercialization/use. Unless developing companies can create more affordable products and the execution of the products prices decrease economies of scale BCI face a lack of mass market adoption.

Opportunities

The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into Brain-Computer Interface systems creates some of the best prospects for market growth and development. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are great tools for communicating sensory information, accessing data, and interpreting identity and intent from brain signals, but they have shortcomings in accurately interpreting brain signals when there is noise or complexity. AI-driven algorithms have the potential to dramatically improve the decoding of brain signals, signal detection, pattern recognition, and the capability to facilitate real-time decisions using BCI. With this synergy, BCIs will be able to provide outputs with a much higher degree of precision and, therefore, be applied in traditional healthcare, rehabilitation, gaming, and potentially for human augmentation.

As an example, AI-driven BCIs are being commercialized for the application of early detection of neurological disorders that exhibit patterns of abnormality based on previously observed brain activity, which could imply that preventive healthcare is becoming part of a BCI application or product. In regard to consumer technology, AI-driven BCIs could enable hands-free and more seamless interactions between user and smart devices, user and voice-activated smart devices, user and virtual assistants or user and immersive virtual systems. The vast potential for new commercial applications in developing adaptive, user-centered, personalized BCI systems that apply learnings from user interaction, may also accelerate mass-market uptake of BCIs. As AI technologies continue to improves the capabilities of BCI, it is expected that innovative technologies will emerge from the integration of BCI and AI and lead to sustained growth in the BCI market.

Trends

The swift advancement of BCI technologies from healthcare to commercial applications such as gaming, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), defense, and human augmentation is a major trend unfolding in the Brain-Computer Interface market. Many companies are developing and trending BCI headsets that use non-invasive forms of BCIs to allow users to control digital and/or virtual environments with thought, providing users unique immersive experiences in gaming and entertainment. In defense, agencies are investigating using BCI to help increase performance, communication, and situational awareness of soldiers on the battlefield. In the corporate world, many companies are testing BCI-based wearable devices to measure workers’ stress levels, increase productivity, and enable mental workload management.

In addition to the defense and corporate applications, integration with AR and VR platforms is also currently trending as they offer users the opportunity to freely navigate virtual worlds with only their thoughts. Together, these processes present exciting, new opportunities for training, education, and simulation. This trend demonstrates that BCI is moving beyond medicine and is becoming an emerging technology. Interest in and exploration of BCI for commercial non-medical functions indicates a disruptive trend that will change the way humans and machines interact across all markets.