The Element Six & Bosch Quantum Sensing Dragon
"Cerebro" is from the Latin "cerebrum," meaning "the brain."
In the X-Men franchise, dating back to X-Men #7 in 1964, Charles “Professor X” Xavier built an extra-sensory perception (ESP) device to amplify telepathic abilities for purposes of detecting and locating mutants around the world. Although seemingly extending the range of users’ abilities, this “Cerebro” device really enabled the detection of the faintest mutant signatures, including those so faint that they would otherwise be undetectable. Originally a computer programmed with punch cards, its current cinematic form factor is a massive, spherical, underground room. The Quantum Dragon is pictured above wearing its headpiece and giving Cerebro a try because… hello… who says no to a dragon?
Element Six and Bosch recently announced a joint venture, Germany-based Bosch Quantum Sensing, for purposes of commercializing quantum sensors. One potential application for small, lightweight, portable magnetometers in the long-term is the field of brain-computer interfaces, not necessarily as sleek-looking as Cerebro’s headpiece, but real, wearable, and legitimately useful. And it turns out that there are other lesser-known parallels with Cerebro as well.
Coming Together
When we say that Professor X “built” Cerebro, we have to acknowledge that he had some help. Depending on whom you ask, Beast and Magneto were involved in its physical construction. Also, Jean Grey was Xavier’s first student and fellow telepath who helped calibrate the device.
Element Six, part of De Beers Group, is a synthetic diamond manufacturer, while Bosch is a global tech and engineering company. This strategic partnership brings together the knowledge of fabricating defects in diamonds with the knowledge of making quantum sensors. The fabrication process itself is the result of close collaboration. Furthermore, this cooperation resolves the paradox of needing sensors to justify manufacturing high volumes of diamond with needing high volumes of diamond to enable building the sensors.
Perfect Imperfection
The cinematic Cerebro looks like a smooth, perfect sphere, and we’re not treated to any technical measurements or tolerances. However, we know that it was assembled with exceptional care and that it is meticulously calibrated. The stories focus on function over engineering, but we’re talking about detecting extremely faint mutant signatures, so we can assume the calibration needs to be perfect.
Element Six’s standards are just as demanding. The synthetic diamonds are engineered with deliberate imperfections but otherwise have to be absolutely perfect. To maximize sensor sensitivity and detect the faintest signals, the diamond has to be a pure material ideally with zero unwanted impurities, yet nonetheless with wanted impurities.
Sensing
X-Men stories, again, focus on function over engineering. However, we know that Cerebro detects the brainwaves of the telepath using it and strengthens them. Cinematically, these brainwaves are the telepathic search for mutant signatures, amplified to detect fainter signatures farther away.
One of the long-term goals of Bosch Quantum Sensing is to miniaturize the quantum sensors for integration onto chips, which would be small and light enough to be worn as a Cerebro-like headpiece. The diamonds are already quite small, but the lasers, optics, and other components need to be much smaller. In the photo above, the sensor head is approximately 2 x 2 cm, and the overall device is about the size of a smartphone. The setup works with the orientation of the NV centers, and the components are already robust against misalignment. Once assembled into brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), they would non-invasively detect the brain’s electrophysiological signals, akin to how Cerebro operates. The primary difference is that one set of signals detects fictitious mutants, while the other is interpreted as control signals for other devices.
It is important to note that electrodes need to be near neurons. The sensitivity of the quantum sensors allows the electrodes to be on the scalp rather than inside brain tissue, which is pretty darn significant, wouldn’t you agree? The sensitivity also allows higher accuracy in controlling prosthetic limbs, communication devices, and so forth.
Sensing Applications
Cerebro is best known for helping Professor X locate mutants; however, it has had other applications. In fact, there have officially been seven generations of Cerebro technology. Other applications include finding ordinary humans, copying both mutant and non-mutant minds, and even more wackadoodle customizations than that. Cerebro has even been modified for use by non-telepaths. It has also had a fully wearable form factor, no longer needing punch-card computers, massive spheres, or anything other than the headpiece.
Aside from the long-term vision to measure brain activity, other potential application fields of quantum sensors include medical applications such as measuring cardiac activity. Quantum sensors also have potential applications beyond medical technology, with the two most commonly cited applications being navigation (including air or nautical applications) and natural resource exploration. Bosch estimates that the global market potential will be billions of euros annually.
Conclusion
I don’t know about you, but if tragedy struck, I would not want to add to that by having electrodes implanted in my brain tissue. I would much rather have a Bosch Quantum Sensing headpiece fitted comfortably to my scalp. And although I’m not a telepath, I’m sensing that you probably feel the same way.
Speaking of quantum sensors and their market potential, IQT Research has a report on that: https://www.insidequantumtechnology.com/product/quantum-sensors-market-evolution-2023-to-2032/
Image generated by OpenAI's DALL·E.
Bosch: “In the image, you can see the approx. 2x2 cm sensor head, where the small diamond (hosting the NV centers) is included. The entire quantum sensing prototype has the size of a smartphone.”