Swiss scientists demonstrate mind-controlled robot

[April 24, 2012]  LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- Swiss scientists have demonstrated how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot using brain signals alone.

The team at Switzerland's Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne says the experiment takes them a step closer to enabling immobile patients to easily interact with their surroundings through a robot "avatar."

Tuesday's demonstration involved a partially tetraplegic patient at a hospital in the southern Swiss town of Sion who imagined lifting his fingers to direct a robot at the university 100 kilometers (62 miles) away.

Similar experiments have taken place in the United States and Germany but they either involved able-bodied patients or invasive brain implants, while the Swiss team used only a simple head cap to record the brain signals.

[Associated Press]

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