This robot arm can be controlled with your mind

It’s hoped the tech will one day help tetraplegic patients with day-to-day life

- ALAIN HERZOG

A robot arm, a machine-learning algorithm and a brain computer interface have been combined to create a system to help tetraplegic (those who can’t move their upper or lower body) patients interact with their world. While this isn’t the first time a brain interface has been used to control a robot, it has taken the technology a step further by estimating and understanding brain signals without input from the patient.

The technology was built by two departments at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). One department was responsible for the algorithm that translated the brain waves into the signals the robotic arm could interpret, and the other built the brain-machine interface.