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It may seem like science fiction , but researchers are experiment with a head - controlled machine that enables exploiter to fly a model whirlybird with only their thoughts .
Researchers at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis created abrain - computer user interface — a organization that allows the brain to communicate directly with an external gimmick — that lets participants moderate the path of a quick aim , known as a quadcopter , simply by mean about specific move . The futuristic technology could one daytime assist people with disabilities lead more main life , the scientist said .
Brad Edelman, a student at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, uses his thoughts to fly a quadcopter (left) through an obstacle course.
The peculiarly designed interface is non - invading , which intend it does not need any ingrained machine . Instead , exploiter don an electro - encephalography ( EEG ) detonator with 64 attached electrodes that pick up signals from the learning ability . When participant conceive about a specific movement — up , down , ripe or left , for example — nerve cell in the brain ’s motor cortex produce tiny electric signals that are then institutionalise to a computer , explain Bin He , a biomedical engineer and the project ’s lead scientist . [ 5 Crazy Technologies That Are Revolutionizing Biotech ]
" The signaling coming from his brain is being pluck up by these sensors and then decoded and sent through a Wi - Fi system to control [ the ] flying quadcopter , " He state in avideo produced by the National Science Foundation . " The computer is going to scan that digital signal and do all the processing and pull out out the brain signal and control [ the ] quadcopter . "
He and his fellow worker are testing the system on students , who first undergo 10 to 20 hours of education by using their thinking to most aviate an aircraft over a computer - generated fashion model of the university ’s campus . This helps the students break " mind tricks " to distinguish between different movement . For object lesson , the brain may work on movements differently when a person is set to throw a baseball with the right hired hand , as opposed to the unexpended hand .
Next , the participantscontrolled the quadcopter with their mindsand test to wing it through a real obstruction row made of balloon .
Eventually , He says the engineering could be used to assist people with disability execute basic , everyday tasks , such as making a telephone set call , turning on a television , or surfing the net .
