Ultra Electronics, a British defense company revealed a prototype of a mind-controlled drone. The new drone can make using a drone with a computer very easy. Here’s all about it.
Mind-controlled drone: Here’s what it can do
The new mind-controlled drone will make controlling the movements of a drone through though using a computer. All a person has to do is focus their attention and eyes on specific circles shown on the computer screen. The mind-controlled drone can help in reducing the number of hand-held controllers used by soldiers.
Additionally, as per the developers’ words, this drone is going to be a gamechanger in the defense sector. the developers also believe that this technology can also be used in several sectors ranging from unmanned naval vessels to unmanned ground vehicles. The firm also has plans for developing a wearable device and testing it on the battlefield.
How does the drone work?
The most surprising feature is that the computer does not use the webcam to look at the user. Users have to wear a brain sensor on their heads while looking at the command buttons on their screen. This will help in taking instructions and delivering them to the drone. In addition to controlling the drone, the ‘remote pilot’ can make it take off and rotate mid-air.
“We create some icons – we call them tags – and they have a signal within them. When you stare at that, your eye responds to it in a particular way. The way in which that eye response occurs is a signal that we pick up on the visual cortex of the brain,” stated Tony White. White is the firm’s technology officer. “So the sensor is looking for the signals we create that come through the eyeball, through the brain, and then on to the visual cortex. Once we get it there as a signal, we can grab that. We understand what that signal looks like, and we can turn that into a command for whatever we’re trying to control,” added White.