Thought Control

It's no Jedi mind trick. A former schoolteacher has developed a device that allows you to operate a screen just by concentrating

Photo-Illustration by Philip Toledano for TIME

Inventor Peter Freer uses EEG technology to improve attention dramatically

Not long ago, a manager at the Ontario Power Generation (OPG) nuclear plant outside Toronto was completing a routine drill. The manager had to demonstrate that he could accurately instruct a computer to open and close a series of simulated valves--valves crucial to controlling the water and pressure that keep radioactive material contained. But this particular demonstration was unusual, since Lanzanin was operating the valves with his mind. He never touched a keyboard. And when his brain was focused enough to tell the valves onscreen to open or close, they obeyed.

The employee was channeling his thoughts through a new device...

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