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The technology that Neuralink has developed, says Mehin, allows people to control parts of their body (like artificial limbs) through a tiny computer (microchip) that is surgically implanted in the brain.

Last year, Woke designed a wearable product that goes behind the ear and works in conjunction with Neuralink’s brain implant, says Mehin. They also designed the outer layers of the robot Elon Musk presented at the end of August, which will carry out the brain implant surgery.

“The robot has five degrees of motion, so our role is to create something that’s visually unintimidating, simple and doesn’t feel like it’s an overly complex machine,” he says.

As industrial designers, Mehin says Woke is assisting Neuralink in humanizing this technology. The goal is to take great engineering work and turn it into something people can relate to, he says.

Included in his IDS presentation, Mehin will be addressing some of the ethical questions that come up when working in the AI space.

Anything that deals with the head area is tricky, says Mehin, because it’s “where your consciousness lives,” and no one wants to lose their free will. So Woke put a lot of thought into who they partner with, he says.

Ultimately, says Mehin, he believes in the power of technology to improve our lives, and says if he was looking into the crystal ball of future technologies, he predicts it’s going to be about thought interfaces. So instead of people asking “hey Google” or Alexa, for answers or requests around the home, they’ll make their requests by simply thinking them.