A rendering of Mind Pilot inside the Design Museum. Image courtesy of the Design Museum

A mind-controlled airship is coming to the Design Museum

Want to become a pilot, but skip the pesky training? You can next month, inside this beautiful London building

Most pilots have to undergo hours of training and practice before being granted their licence. However, next month the Design Museum in London will allow novice aeronauts the opportunity to control a newly commissioned airship with just the power of their minds.

OK, the airship, called Mind Pilot, will be a tiny, toy-like one, and its flightpath will be limited to a few cubic metres inside the museum's atrium but it's still quite cool, right?

 

The Design Museum, London
The Design Museum, London

The commission, created by the design, art and science studio Loop.pH, features a headset that monitors the wearer's heart rate and brain activity, relaying this information to the radio-controlled balloon, which will turn these vital signs into flight.

It's a fun sounding set-up, though its creators hope Mind Pilot will "encourages the idea of an inclusive future where people with varying physical abilities can use thought control to operate flight."

Try it out at the museum 18-23 September. For more on the Design Museum get this book; for more on its designer take a look at our John Pawson books; and for some loftier airborne views consider these Bernard Edmaier books.