Brain-Hacking Software Can Decode Your Knowledge and Dreams

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New technologies are extracting detailed data from our brains that reveal what we know, have seen or have dreamed. Some of the signals could even fly a plane


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A pilot sits in the cockpit of a Diamond DA42 light aircraft, mentally working through the steps needed to safely land on the runway ahead. Moments later he touches down without having laid a hand on the controls or stepped on the aircraft's pedals. He is no ordinary pilot—in fact, he is not a pilot at all, and he has just landed his aircraft using brain waves.


In a series of experiments earlier this year, seven people with varying degrees of cockpit experience—including none—successfully flew and landed a simulated DA42. Instead of developing the normal hand and foot coordination through hours of training and cockpit experience, these pilots relied on an electrode-laden cap that collects their neural impulses and flight-control algorithms that convert them into commands for a virtual twin-engine aircraft.



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