Chinese researchers have created a 'quadcopter' a drone that can be controlled by thought alone.
The thought controlled flying drone that could act as ‘virtual eyes’ for the disabled
Chinese researchers have created a ‘quadcopter’ – a four-rotor helicopter – a drone that can be controlled by thought alone.
The researchers aim to give people with impaired motor abilities a new avenue for interaction – for instance, using the helicopter to take a close-up look at objects which are out of reach.
The team even suggests the helicopters could be used for fun aerial battles in the sky, creating a fun interactive game for both disabled and non-disabled people alike.
The system uses an off-the-shelf ‘electroencephalography’ (EEG) headset, by a company called Amotive, which can interpret brain activity.
The Emotiv headset retails for $299 and can simply be plugged into any recent Windows machine to begin working, with apps and games – including Angry Birds – being adapted by enthusiasts to run with simple mind controls.
Currently, the headset uses Bluetooth to connect to a laptop, which then trasmits the instructions onwards to the helicopter.
The £190 ($299) Emotive headset, which is available to buy online
However, over time, the technology is likely to shrink and become simpler to use, as well as find more uses.
The team, from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China,may still need to consider how to phrase the controls, however, as New Scientist reports that a user can move the flyer forward by thinking ‘right’, fly up by thinking ‘push’, and turn clockwise by thinking ‘left’.
Thinking ‘left hard’ tells the quadcopter to take off from the ground.
