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We are a diverse team of talented people who are dedicated to building technology that radically improves human lives.
March 12, 2026 - March 12, 2026
Virtual
A fireside chat with Dr. Galen Buckwalter, BCI Pioneer, and Sean Darcy, Caltech Andersen Lab Researcher
Moderated by Tyler Maxfield, Blackrock Neurotech
What happens when a BCI system meant for motor restoration is extended into creative expression?
In this installment of Blackrock Neurotech’s “Powered by Research” Series, BCI participant Dr. Galen Buckwalter and Caltech PhD researcher Sean Darcy discuss their primary work advancing intracortical BCIs for motor restoration—and how that foundation enabled the development of NeuralNote, an exploratory system that converts neural activity into real-time musical tones.
Built on the same decoding principles used in movement research, NeuralNote emerged as a participant-driven extension of ongoing lab work. Join our panelists to hear researcher Sean Darcy walk through the technical architecture, signal selection, and mapping strategies behind the system and Dr. Buckwalter reflects on the experience of using his BCI as a standalone instrument in the song “Wirehead.”
J. Galen Buckwalter is a research psychologist with over 30 years of experience exploring the intersection of psychology, technology, and human behavior. He started his career as a research professor at the University of Southern California and later developed a behavioural outcomes research program at Kaiser Permanente. Galen is perhaps best known as the mind behind the groundbreaking assessment and matching system for eHarmony.com. His research has taken him to the cutting edge of neuroscience—he’s a participant and scientist in a groundbreaking brain-machine interface trial aimed at restoring function after spinal cord injury, giving him unprecedented access to his own neural activity. And beyond the lab? Galen is the front man of Siggy, a pre-punk band of psychologists that’s rocked underground venues across LA. He’s written over 70 songs and is now exploring ways to integrate the sounds of his own brain activity into music.
Sean Darcy is a third-year PhD student in Computation and Neural Systems at Caltech, working under the guidance of Professor Richard Andersen. His research focuses on brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) implanted in tetraplegic humans, investigating how the brain integrates intracortical microstimulation–evoked artificial sensations with natural sensory signals to support functional neuroprosthetic feedback. He received his B.S. in Bio medical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2023, with minors in Psychology and Computer Integrated Surgery. Drawing on training in engineering and neuroscience, Sean aims to develop next-generation BCI systems while addressing fundamental questions about neural computation.
