Dear Reader,

Welcome to Between Calls, your weekly dose of hand-picked stories from the worlds of digital marketing, wellness and science. Blending commerce, consciousness and curiosity, Between Calls brings you insights to make you think and think again.

This week, we explore the technologies that are blurring the lines between humans and machines. These include voice assistants that know what you'll order before you ask, genetic profiles that reveal your optimal diet encoded in your DNA, and brain-computer interfaces that create a genuine dialogue between neurons and silicon. First up is voice commerce, which is rewriting the rules of shopping online. Second, we explore how our genes can help us better understand our diets. Finally, we look at a fascinating development in brain computer interfaces where things are getting really exciting. So we have voice commerce, personalized nutrition and brain computer interfaces this week. Happy Reading!

Kabir says: A voice commerce expert, a dietician, and a computer scientist walk into a bar. The voice commerce expert says, “I just sold six protein shakes to a guy whispering into his smart fridge.” The dietician nods, “Great, now let’s see if his liver can process all that voice induced sugar.” The computer scientist sighs, and mutters, “It’s my fault. I built the algorithm that made that decision, and now I’ll be debugging a fridge with a shopping addiction.”

DIGITAL MARKETING

Voice Boom

Voice commerce will reach $421 billion by 2029, growing at 29.2% annually. While we may think it is about technology understanding us better, it's about us learning to talk naturally to machines. The shift from typing "best smartphones 2025" to asking "What are the best smartphones under $800?" has forced retailers to completely rethink SEO. 

They're now optimizing for conversational queries, long-tail keywords, and natural language patterns. Walmart lets customers add items via voice while cooking. Smart fridges detect low supplies and suggest reordering. The friction between desire and purchase is approaching zero. They use voice not because it's novel but because it works. The future of commerce isn't typing, it's talking.

WELLNESS

Diet From Your DNA

What if the perfect diet for you was written in your genes? Welcome to personalized nutrition, where science is now using genomic insights to decode why certain people thrive on specific diets while others don't. The findings are striking such as individuals with certain genetic variants see HDL cholesterol surge with omega-3s, while others show no response. 

These findings are making us learn that the question isn't whether a diet is healthy, but healthy for whom. Yet challenges remain. Privacy concerns, psychological impacts of genetic information, and health disparities all demand careful consideration. The gap between what we can know and what we should do with that knowledge remains wide. We spent centuries asking "What should we eat?" when the better question was "What should I eat?" The answer was in our cells all along.

SCIENCE

The Mind-Machine Dialogue

Chinese bioengineers have created the world's first truly bidirectional brain-computer interface (BCI). It doesn't just decode brain signals; it sends feedback that helps the brain refine its commands. The result? A 100x efficiency improvement with 1,000x less energy consumption. The innovation uses a memristor chip with dual loops: one loop uses machine learning to adapt to changing brain signals, while another provides feedback to help users think more precisely. 

Traditional BCIs were one-way streets. This one creates a dialogue where the machine trains the brain as the brain trains the machine. Users can now potentially control drones through thought alone with unprecedented precision: rotation, altitude, complex maneuvers. But here's the critical question, if machines can help us think more clearly & direct thoughts more precisely, who's really in control ?

PROMPTITUDE

Ignite Ideas, One Prompt at a Time: Use this with any LLM and learn more about Brain Computer Interfaces

As a neurotechnology researcher and biomedical engineer with expertise in brain-computer interfaces and neural signal processing, create a comprehensive, beginner-friendly guide to brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Define brain-computer interfaces and explain how they differ from traditional human-computer interaction by demonstrating direct communication pathways between the brain and external devices through neural signal interpretation using clear analogies. Break down core concepts like neural recording, signal processing, machine learning decoding, and feedback systems while exploring different BCI types including invasive, non-invasive, and semi-invasive approaches with their capabilities and limitations. Detail current applications from medical treatments for paralysis and epilepsy to cognitive enhancement and gaming interfaces, addressing breakthrough companies like Neuralink, Synchron, and research institutions alongside technological challenges like signal stability and biocompatibility. Include real-world success stories of patients regaining movement control, emerging consumer applications, and future possibilities in memory enhancement and direct brain-to-brain communication while addressing ethical considerations, privacy concerns, and safety protocols. Maintain an accessible, balanced tone while presenting both transformative medical benefits and important limitations, ensuring readers gain foundational understanding of BCI technology and appreciation for its potential to revolutionize treatment of neurological conditions and human-computer interaction

FROM THE BOOKSHELF

To do this week: Chinese scientists’ leap forward in BCIs is incredible. But they’re not far behind in the field of robotics and especially advanced humanoid robots.

Watch Here

Stay Informed, Stay Ahead!

About the author: abhinavchetan.com

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