/ News
Brain-controlled helicopter takes mental concentration to new heights
(CNN) -- A toy helicopter controlled by nothing but brainwaves could be available to the public just in time to hover under this year's Christmas tree.
Currently touted on crowd-funding website Kickstarter -- where it has already exceeded its pledge goal twice over -- the Orbit comes equipped with an electroencephalography (EEG) headset, capable of reading electrical activity along the scalp.
"As you focus your mind on something -- whether it be a math equation or the lyrics of a song -- your brain produces electric signals," explains Steve Castellotti, CEO and co-founder of Puzzlebox, the San Francisco-based company behind the project.
"The headset monitors those signals and converts them into flight commands," he says.
There are future plans to enable multi-directional control, but in its present incarnation signals sent from the brain can only be used to lift the helicopter off the ground.
"When you concentrate, up it goes; when you mentally relax, it comes back down again," explains Castellotti.
Aside from its obvious entertainment value, Puzzlebox are pitching the Orbit as an educational toy that will help improve concentration and relaxation skills.
According to Castellotti, the art of keeping mentally focused is inherently difficult to master.
"If you're learning how to ride a bike, there's a very obvious, physical indication when you improve -- you stop falling off," says the 34-year-old computer science graduate. "It's much harder to know when you're concentrating properly and, to a lesser extent, relaxing, because there is little scope for accurate, real-time feedback."
Castellotti believes that by providing powerful visual reinforcement in the shape of his telekinesis-powered floating sphere, users will become better able to channel their attentions in other tasks.
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When it goes into mass production at the end of this month, the Orbit will be available in two models. The first is designed to be used with mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, which connect via Bluetooth to the accompanying EEG headset, and communicate with sensors on board the helicopter.
The second model, available later in the year, comes with a Puzzlebox Pyramid. The Pyramid acts as a home base and remote control unit for the Orbit and features a custom-designed, reprogrammable micro-controller.
Infrared LEDs lining the rim of the Pyramid send signals to the helicopter. These can also be reprogrammed to control other infrared gadgets.
"So instead of controlling the helicopter, you could modify the programming of the Pyramid to turn the volume up or down on your television," Castellotti says.
The idea behind the Pyramid is to encourage users to make the transition from a simple consumer to an active participant in the products they buy.
"We want to stimulate curiosity about how it all works, and actively invite anyone who buys the Orbit to take it apart, modify it and reprogram it as they see fit," he says.
As such, Puzzlebox will also freely distribute all material in relation to the project, from the source code to the hardware schematics to how-to guides for dismantling and reassembling the whole thing.
"Sure, it's a fun toy first and foremost, but once the initial novelty wears off it doesn't have to end up at the bottom of the toy box ... it's yours to reinvent," he says.
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/23/tech/orbit-brain-controlled-helicopter/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5
/ About us
Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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