Scientists show mind-controlled robot

SWISS scientists have demonstrated how a partially paralysed person can control a robot using brain signals alone.

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

Today'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 100km 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. (AP)