The current crop of thought-controlled devices relies on users imagining movements, but, according to the Telegraph, Intel is working on technology that will “read” what words users are thinking:

Preliminary tests of the system have shown that the computer can work out words by looking at similar brain patterns and looking for key differences that suggest what the word might be.

Dean Pomerleau, a senior researcher at Intel Laboratories, said that currently, the devices required to get sufficient detail of brain activity were bulky, expensive magnetic resonance scanners, like those used in hospitals.

But he said work was under way to produce smaller pieces of equipment that can be worn as headsets and that can produce the same level of detail.

Telegraph: Computers that read minds are being developed by Intel