Jedi masters aren't the only ones who can move things with their minds. For about $450, you can buy a 3D-printed headset that records your brainwaves and converts them into signals that can control everything from a robot arm to a remote-controlled helicopter. And you don't need to have brain surgery to operate it! A Brooklyn-based company called OpenBCI (short for brain computer interface) makes these headsets and sells them to students and hobbyists. And unlike most commercial products on the market, all of their software and hardware plans are open source. I visited their lab in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to try it out myself. Here's what it was like:
OpenBCI , a Brooklyn - based technology company , has developed a 3D - printed headset called Ultracortex Mark IV , which captures EEG brainwaves and EMG face muscle movements , converting these into circuit board signals to operate anything from a remote - controlled helicopter to a robotic arm . Each headset takes 25 to 30 hours to make , costs $ 100 and all the hardware and software is open source , unlike many of its competitors . The company has plans to design a new version of the headset that can send electricity into the brain as well as out of it , through a technology called , transcranial direct current stimulation technology ( STS ) .