I think, therefore it flies: Orbit helicopter is controlled by your deepest thoughts

To fly this helicopter, you have to use your brain. "I wanted to make something educational for kids," says Steve Castellotti, the 34-year-old founder and CTO of Californian startup Puzzlebox. "While flying the helicopter, a child who's trying to concentrate gets instant visual feedback and can train themselves to focus better." The Orbit helicopter, sold with an EEG sensor, launched last December after raising $75,000 (£47,600) on Kickstarter. Castellotti's goal is to allow developers to modify Orbit's Android and iOS app to control other connected toys. 

Puzzlebox was founded in 2004 as a research consultancy specialising in future brain-sensor applications. In 2011, when biosensors company NeuroSky ( Wired 07.11) began making consumer EEG headsets that tracked electrical brain activity, Puzzlebox used the tech to develop Orbit. A pack containing the helicopter, the NeuroSky MindWave Mobile headset and the infrared dongle costs $189 to customers in the US. "By Christmas, you will be able to buy the Orbit in toy stores, and you won't even need the app," he says. Mind-controlled toys are really taking off.

How it works
When you wear NeuroSky's MindWave Mobile headset, your brain activity is transmitted to the Puzzlebox app in your Android device, via Bluetooth. If you concentrate, your EEG readout will be between 12 and 29 hertz, transmitting a "fly" signal to the helicopter via an infrared dongle.