Watch this man control a robot with his mind

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man controls robot brain-computer interface

YouTube/ EPFL

The robot.

A man was able to control a robot using breakthrough technology developed by researchers from EPFL's Center for Neuroprosthetics in Switzerland.

The technology, known as brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, is revolutionary in its capabilities.

When people are hooked up to BCI technology, it gives them the ability to control an external device with their mind - sort of like mastering the force or telekinesis.

People became exposed to the ways BCI could assist people with spinal cord injuries during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when a man paralyzed from the waist down was able to kick a ceremonial goal. He wore an exoskeleton suit that he controlled using BCI technology.

More recently, Adam Fritz, a man who suffered a T6 spinal cord injury in 2008, was able to use BCI technology to walk again for the very first time without the assistance of robotic limbs.

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The EPFL researchers are now showing how BCI technology can be used to control telepresence robots.

The robot, which is essentially a laptop on wheels, could allow disable people to navigate a space they might not be able to otherwise.

So far, the robot can only be commanded to go right, left, or forward (it's not like controlling a robot with a joystick). But, the robot has autonomous capabilities so that it can avoid obstacles.

People using BCI technology can either have a chip implanted into their brain or wear an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap, which presses flat metal discs against the scalp that are able to measure electrical impulses from the brain.

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brain-computer interface

YouTube/ EPFL

The EEG cap.

Because implanting a chip in the brain is so invasive, experiments are done using the EEG cap.

A small amplifier takes the feed delivered from the EEG cap and wirelessly delivers it to a computer to begin movement.

Watch a man control a robot using his mind here:

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