Puppets without strings

You'll never have to lift a finger again. Honda Motor and state-backed Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International announced this week they have developed technology that allows robots to be controlled by thinking alone.

The amazing new Brain Machine Interface (BMI) analyzes brain activity, noninvasively, to manipulate robots. In a demonstration, a robotic hand was used to play a rock, paper, scissors game by a subject in a magnetic resonance imaging device. Since different areas of the brain are used when forming each hand shape, the MRI could track the blood-flow patterns and relay the appropriate signals to the robot hand.

Though the hand shape still had to be formed by the subject to ensure the proper brain activity signal, the researchers believe robot control could be accomplished without physical movement. Honda wants to equip its already astounding Asimo humanoid robot with the BMI within ten years. Just sit back, relax and pilot your very own spaceman.