Is the pilot sits in the cockpit with his hands in his lap, the airplane's control stick moves all by itself. The plane lands perfectly. Automatic pilot? No, the pilot controls the flight simulator — using only the power of thought.
From electrodes on the test pilot's head, "We read brain signals that form a complex pattern," says Tim Fricke, who leads the experiments conducted with the Technical University of Munich's flight simulator.
Test subjects focus on their left or right hand, and their brain’s electrical activity changes depending on which side is their focus. The activity is picked up by the electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes and produces a characteristic pattern of brain waves. An algorithm then "translates" these thoughts into piloting instructions for the light plane, with the computer making the relevant calculations.
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