Thinking cap to control devices

FORGET the remote control: a new device in Japan could let you control electronic devices without lifting a finger simply by reading brain activity.

The “brain-machine interface” developed by Hitachi Inc analyses slight changes in the brain’s blood flow and translates brain activity into electric signals.

A cap connects by optical fibres to a mapping device, which links to a toy train set via a control computer and motor during one recent demonstration at Hitachi’s Advanced Research Laboratory in Hatoyama, just outside Tokyo.