Mind control of helicopters now. What might be next?
In this amazing feat of engineering, a person’s thoughts are used to navigate a robot, which makes us wonder about other applications in the future.
Using a brain-computer interface developed by University of Minnesota biomedical engineering professor Bin He, several students learned to steer a robotic quadcopter with just their thoughts. As shown in the video, they navigated the craft around a gym, making it turn, rise, dip, and even sail through a ring.
Similar technology may someday allow disabled people to regain speech or mobility lost due to disease or injury. They may be able to control a variety of devices with just their thoughts, including lights, TV remotes, artificial limbs and wheelchairs. The solution is completely noninvasive: brain waves (EEG) are picked up by electrodes in a cap worn on the scalp, not requiring a chip implanted in the brain.
A more detailed report on the technology is available in the Journal of Neural Engineering, and the video is shown below.
RELATED ARTICLES:
The Evolution of Brain-Computer Interfaces – Imagine a world where machines can be controlled by thought alone. (INFOGRAPHIC)
Aging and Brain Science (11/6/2013) – a look at advances in neural engineering research, based on my interview with Dr. Metin Akay, Founding Chairman of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Houston
The Cyborg in Us All (NY Times)
Young Innovators and The Future of Healthcare
First Human Brain-To-Brain Interface Lets Scientist Control Colleague’s Body (VIDEO)
COMMENT: Just as memories of the Brazilian lab rat were recorded and then transmitted to a rat at Duke, imagine the day when you can “plug in” to learn a new language or how to play an instrument or other applications of mind-machine and mind-mind interfaces. When will that occur? And will these capabilities be used for good or evil?
Imagine the implications of a $1,000 computer that becomes as powerful as the human brain (Ray Kurzweil projects that by 2037) or as powerful as the human race (2049) and how eventually that’s a $0.01 embedded processor that’s connected to trillions of similar processors in an Internet of Things, or dozens or thousands of cell-sized processors living in, and powered by, our bodies.
What will become of humans? After all, the biology of humans and other living organisms have evolved slowly – over many centuries – while tech innovation has evolved exponentially, following Moore’s Law. ‘Heady stuff (pun intended).
RELATED ARTICLES & VIDEOS:
The featured video shows how brain waves (EEG) are picked up by electrodes in a cap worn on the scalp, not requiring a chip implanted in the brain. But what if the future allows for thoughts to be picked up remotely without the subject even notices? And what if the subject’s behavior can be manipulated like in the following article?
Machines can read your brain. There’s little that can stop them. (POLITICO, 8/31/21) Technology is giving access to the inner workings of the brain, and policymakers are scrambling to regulate it. Already, neurotechnology has been used to monitor the brains, and influence the behavior, of mice. Now, this neuroscientist warns that there is little that can prevent humans from being next. He see plenty of reason to be alarmed by certain unregulated applications of neurotechnology, especially as it attracts the attention of militaries, governments and technology companies.
3-min video (April 2025) Rodney is living with ALS but is helping to redefine independence using just his thoughts. A brain-computer interface lets him adjust lights, turn on a fan, and even feed his dog Piper hands-free, voice-free, and touch-free. The video is not as advance as the one I originally shared, but it shows some of the real world applications.