Paralyzed Woman Flies Jet Fighter Simulator – With Her Mind

Welcome to the future.

A woman named Jan Scheuermann, who is a quadriplegic (paralyzed from the neck down)  and has been learning how to move robotic arms with only her mind, decided she wanted to fly an F-35 jet fighter. According to the Washington Post, Jan was fitted three years ago with probes on the surface of her brain that allow her thoughts to interface with computer controlled prosthetics. So her friends at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) rigged up an F-35 simulator - and she flew it using only her thoughts. Jan is not a pilot and has never flown an airplane in her life, but there she was - flying an F-35 and a single engine Cessna. From the video of the simulated flight included in the article, it looks like it would've been a bumpy ride in the real world, but the airplanes were under her control.

Think about that for a minute. Think about what this means for people who are, or will be, paralyzed. And, if you're a fan of the "Iron Man" movies, you know how interested military leaders all over the world will be to hear this.

It's going to take some time to perfect, but "thought controlled" vehicles are coming.

By the way - the video below will show you some of the other work being done by DARPA on robots.

Sleep tight. We'll talk to you in the morning.

Banana Don and Stephanie McCoy amuse and thrill you every weekday morning from 5:30 –10AM on the radio at 100.7 WITL.

Banana Don can be reached via email at don.jefferson@townsquaremedia.com and on Twitter at @WITLBananaDon and @WITLFM. Also, Facebook friend Banana Don and Stephanie at Facebook.com/BananaStephanie and Facebook.com/WITLFM.