Flight of Fancy: Piloting Planes with Mind Control

Self-driving cars have already arrived, at least in the testing stage, and now mind-controlled flight could be on the horizon, researchers say.

A team of engineers developed an algorithm that can convert brain waves into flight commands. The researchers hope the mind-controlled system paired with specialized airplane controls will make flying easier and safer in the future.

"If flying is more intuitive, it is also easier and thus safer," Tim Fricke, an aerospace engineer at Technische Universität München in Germany, who helped develop the system, told Live Science. "Moderately trained general aviation pilots with [little] flying experience would probably benefit the most from this new approach."