The thought-guided helicopter navigates a course of balloons. Source: BBC

A thought-powered helicopter has become a reality thanks to the efforts of a team of researchers from the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Engineering and Medicine.

The helicopter is part of research published in the Journal of Neural Engineering. A demonstration of the findings showed that an electronic system can be ‘trained’ to recognise patterns in a map of electrical activity, known as an electroencephalograph.

For the helicopter demonstration, volunteers were connected to a system that correlated their thoughts – such as the motion of making a fist with one hand – with the motions of the helicopter.

At the moment, the technique is notoriously tricky; deciphering the vast number of electrical signals and reading them is no easy task. But this research is some of the first to create replicable results.

There are some exciting science fiction-like possibilities with the research but its first practical use is likely to be in improving the lives of disabled people.

Bin He, the director of the institute and senior author on the research, said that the “non-invasive” technique could prove particularly helpful. “The ultimate application really is to benefit disabled patients who cannot move or patients that suffer with movement disorders,” he told the BBC.

He added: “We want to control a wheelchair, and turn on the TV, and most importantly – this is my personal dream – to develop a technology to use the subject’s intention to control an artificial limb in that way, and make it as natural as possible.”