Parrot AR Drone Controlled By EEG Headset Hookup

Science fiction continues to become science on a daily basis, and a recent example comes from China, where researchers at Zhejian University have apparently demonstrated that a small drone aircraft can be controlled by thoughts transmitted through a computer.

A video posted on YouTube by the university shows the flight of the adapted Parrot AR quadcopter. Wired magazine reports that the interface is an EEG (emotiv electroencephalography) headset connected to a computer using bluetooth technology. The laptop then relays the commands to the aircraft over a wi-fi connection. The Chinese researchers say they can tell the quadcopter to take off, land, climb, descend, and turn right or left using only certain though commands. They also claim that if the operator blinks four times, it activates a camera to take a picture from the aircraft.

In the video, the quadcopter is shown engaging is air-to-air "combat" with a similar device being controlled normally. The thought-controlled aircraft chases the other quadcopter out of a defined area in the test.

The developers call the device the "Flying Buddy 2." They brought the device to a the Ubicomp 2012 computing conference which wrapped up Saturday in Pittsburgh.

(Image captured from YouTube Video)

FMI: Video, www.ubicomp.org/ubicomp2012/