http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,25271450-5014239,00.html

OPENING a car boot or controlling a home air conditioner could become just a wish away with Honda's new technology that connects thoughts inside a brain with robotics.
Honda Motor Co. has developed a way to read patterns of electric currents on a person's scalp as well as changes in cerebral blood flow when a person thinks about four simple movements - moving the right hand, moving the left hand, running and eating.

Honda succeeded in analysing such thought patterns, and then relaying them as wireless commands for Asimo, its human-shaped robot, Fox News reported.

In a video shown today at Tokyo headquarters, a person wearing a helmet sat still but thought about moving his right hand - a thought that was picked up by cords attached to his head inside the helmet. After several seconds, Asimo, who responds to brain signals, lifted its right arm.

Honda said the technology wasn't quite ready for a live demonstration because of possible distractions in the person's thinking.

The company, a leader in robotics, acknowledged the technology was still at a basic research stage with no immediate practical applications in the works.

"I'm talking about dreams today," executive Yasuhisa Arai said.

"Practical uses are still way into the future."

Japan boasts one of the leading robotics industries in the world, and the Government is pushing to develop the industry as a road to growth.