The possibility of moving objects by thought has always seemed as exciting as it is in science fiction. However, many things that seemed unattainable have become a reality. Even telekinesis is no longer a distant and unattainable goal: specialists are on the verge of putting it into practice with a revolutionary project that harnesses the power of metamaterials. Let’s see how it works and what it’s all about.

Researchers Shaobo Qu and Jiafu Wang from the Air Force University of Engineering and Cheng-Wei Qiu from the National University of Singapore have launched a project to enable humans to move objects by thought. The idea is to structure a “remote brainwave mental control.”

This would be possible thanks to metamaterials, a technology with great potential. Indeed, in addition to allowing a breakthrough in the design of artificial materials, the two-dimensional counterpart of metamaterials is surprisingly capable of manipulating electromagnetic waves. The goal is to allow people to maneuver metasurfaces directly with their minds. The authors believe this thought process produces brain waves that could allow the metasurfaces to be moved without using hands.

Scientists could control them remotely by transmitting human brain waves via bluetooth. Simulation tests showed that the user’s waves could manipulate the object directly, with results significantly better than any previously designed system. This means that the innovative model developed is superior to those already on the market and offers a customizable design to improve quality and accuracy.

From this first step toward telekinesis, the team hopes to take further steps and achieve more satisfactory results. Indeed, this foundation could easily be applied to other mind-controlled metasurfaces in health management and smart sensors.

The future we only dared to imagine seems to be getting closer and closer.