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Lausanne scientists develop robot "avatar"

A team of Swiss scientists has shown how a semi-paralysed person can control a robot with brain signals.

This content was published on April 24, 2012 - 16:26
swissinfo.ch and agencies

Researchers from the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne say their experiment has brought them a step closer to helping immobile patients to interact with their surroundings using a robot “avatar”.

In a demonstration on Tuesday, a partially tetraplegic patient at a hospital in Sion imagined lifting his fingers to move a robot at the university, which is 100 kilometres away.

Similar experiments have taken place in the United States and Germany, but they involved able-bodied patients or brain implants.

In comparison, the Swiss team only used a simple head cap to record the brain signals.

In compliance with the JTI standards

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

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