Use Your Mind — and a Bit of Technology — to Bend Spoons

Spoon bending has become something like shorthand for demonstrating telekinetic powers. The most well-known example of this in fiction probably comes from the movie The Matrix, but dates back at least to the work of Uri Geller, a self-proclaimed psychic, in the 1970s. That was, of course, a trick—one that has been reproduced by many stage magicians and charlatans. As skeptics, we don’t believe that anyone can bend a spoon using only the power of their mind. But, thanks to modern technology, you can bend a spoon with a thought and a bit of help from an Arduino, as proven by Instructables user Tony--K.

Using technology that was only science fiction until fairly recently, you can use your mind to activate a motor that bends a spoon — or fork in the case of Tony--K’s demonstration. The key piece of hardware for this project is a NeuroSky MindWave Mobile 2 headset, which can be purchased new for around $125. It is a consumer grade EEG (ElectroEncephaloGram) headset that is capable of detecting some of your brain’s electrical activity, such as alpha waves and beta waves. No, it can’t read your thoughts with any kind of detail, but it can sense broad patterns. At this time, it most reliably differentiates between a state of attention and a state of meditation. When that is linked to other hardware, you can trigger some sort of action in response to the mental state you are currently exhibiting.

To use that MindWave headset to bend a fork, Tony--K used an Arduino Uno board. The Arduino was paired with an HC-05 Bluetooth module, which facilitates communication with the headset. The fork, which should be a cheap, disposable piece of cutlery that flexes easily, is mounted firmly to a box. A length of string, fishing line, or wire connects the tines of the fork to the arm of a hobby servo motor. Tony--K used a Solarbotics HXT900 Micro Servo for the job, but any servo motor should work just fine. The Arduino is programmed to turn the servo’s arm when the user’s attention is high. Essentially, this means that you just need to focus on the fork and it will actually bend. It may not be true telekinesis, but it’s the closest thing to it that we can achieve right now in the real world.