Forget joysticks and exoskeletons, the future of warfare could see robot armies controlled using just a commander’s mind.

China has been training students at a military academy to use headsets that detect and interpret the brain activity of the wearer, allowing them to control the machines.

At a demonstration at the People’s Liberation Army Information Engineering University in Zhengzhou, students used the device to send robots trundling in different directions.

They were also able to turn the robot’s heads and get them to pick up objects.