Four organizations have developed a method to control drones with thoughts. An EEG scan is used to do this. The pilots are controlling a virtual joystick with their brains.
The method was developed by the Portuguese company Tekever. The organizations now conduct live tests with the technology when they sustained earlier successfully planes in the sky in flight simulators. This involves inter alia drones, but also an aircraft normally have to be controlled by men, namely a four-seat Diamond DA42-propeller plane.
“Pilots” must wear a cap which is used to make an EEG-scan. Then it is read out which direction the driver will move a virtual joystick on a docked laptop. Algorithms should avoid too sudden movements, for example caused by errors or a fainting driver.
The researchers hope the technology can be used in aviation. An aircraft expert told the BBC it is not probable that this will happen in the foreseeable future. At this time it may not be clear, and the question is whether passengers will have confidence in the technology.