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Invest Shanghai
The 2025 Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Conference opened in Shanghai on Thursday under the theme "Brain Connects the World, Wisdom Gathers in Shanghai," bringing together research teams from major universities, leading industry developers, and experts across the sector in an effort to better link research, application, and policy.
Organized by the the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Minhang district, and the Brain-Computer Interface Industry Alliance, The competition features four events — fatigue detection, emotion recognition, brain-controlled robotic cars, and brain-controlled robotic arms — with 10 teams participating in each category.
Participating institutions include prominent Chinese universities such as Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University, the University of Macau, and Tianjin University, as well as companies like Nanoloop, Shaonao Tech and Nianji Tech.
At the robotic arm event, contestants were required to use a BCI-controlled robotic arm to pick up four colored blocks placed randomly on a table and place them into their corresponding buckets in a set sequence. "It sounds simple, but it's extremely difficult to operate," said Cui Zhenyao from the School of Artificial Intelligence and Automation at Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
Inside the compact venue, contestants including Cui wore electroencephalography (EEG) headsets and operated robotic arms solely through mental commands. Through cues on the computer interface, they slowly lifted and moved brightly colored blocks toward designated buckets. The space alternated between the thud of a successful drop and the louder smack of a block striking the table when a maneuver went wrong.
Cui said he joined the competition primarily to test his own capabilities and to meet more entrepreneurs and industry insiders. "For this competition, I'm working with classmates from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Zhongguancun Institute of Artificial Intelligence. To bring BCI applications to life, we need hardware teams and algorithm teams to work closely together," Cui told the Global Times.
Directly in front of him was the track for the brain-controlled little car event, where one operator wore an EEG cap and stared intently at a monitor while another teammate provided verbal cues based on the twists and turns of the maze-like course.
Shaonao Tech's Zheng Siyu, technical director of the company, told the Global Times that his company was competing in both the robotic arm and robotic car categories.
According to Zheng, this competition's brain-controlled little car competition required operators to navigate an unknown maze using only four EEG-driven commands — forward, backward, left, and right — with the final ranking determined by completion time. "This format tests the accuracy of EEG decoding and the precision of EEG-based remote control in complex environments," Zheng said, adding that such technology has broad potential in medical and health-related applications.
BCI technologies used in the competition can also support fatigue monitoring for workers in high-risk environments or drivers operating vehicles over long periods of time, offering real-time alerts to prevent accidents, Liu Yichang, a member of Fudan University's fatigue-detection team, told the Global Times.
China has placed significant emphasis on advancing its BCI industry. Earlier this year, seven government departments — including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Education — jointly issued guidelines on promoting innovation in the BCI sector, setting 2027 as the target year for achieving breakthroughs in key technologies and establishing an advanced technological, industrial and standards framework.
BCI innovation is accelerating, industries are expanding rapidly, and disruptive breakthroughs are emerging, the Xinhua News Agency reported, adding that the field has become "a key arena for deep integration between scientific and technological innovation and industrial development."
Reflecting on the broader significance of the technology, Cui said, "Human science goes in two directions — outward to explore the universe, and inward to explore the mysteries of the brain. BCI technology helps us understand our minds and use that knowledge to benefit society, and that's why I want to devote my career into it."