A thought controlled Flying Buddy 2 drone for specially abled people

Being able to control an object with our minds may seem like a cool idea for most people but for the disabled who have lost the use of their hands, telekinesis or mind control over objects may provide just the kind of independence they need to carry out a variety of functions. Even though telekinesis is by no means a new technology, researchers working at the CCNT lab at the Zhejiang University in China have taken the technology to a whole new level with the Flying Buddy 2. A modified version of the Parrot’s fabulous quadracopter AR Drone, the Flying Buddy 2 is mated to an Emotiv EEG headset which allows users to control the movement and functioning of the quadcopter by simply thinking of command words.

Mind-controlled Flying Buddy 2 drone

For example, a user needs to think of the word “clench” or “push” and the brainwaves thus produced will be translated into commands for the craft which will rise of fall as a response. To make the drone capture an image with its camera, the user simply has to blink repeatedly. The Drone is connected to a laptop via Wi-Fi while the laptop itself connects to the Emotiv headset using a Bluetooth connection. The Flying Buddy 2 drone was developed by researchers primarily as a tool that will allow the disabled to explore their surroundings independently and at their own will though the creation can also be used for real time gaming as well.

Via: Technabob