10 Inventions That Will Make Harry Potter A Reality

Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort are all highly accomplished Legilimens. This means that they are able to access the thoughts and memories of a person and can almost always tell when they are being lied to.

Mind-readers. They're mind-readers.

Sure, you get "mind-readers" in the "muggle world", but unfortunately their powers either come from their ability to read your body language and facial expressions, or just the fact that they are lying to you to get your money or admiration.

Anyway, in a move that is both exciting and terrifying, scientists here in the real world have managed to come up with a machine that can actually read your mind.

The brain is a complex, many-layered computer, but it is a computer nonetheless, and if we can learn to interpret the signals that whizz around it then we can figure out what a person is thinking and feeling.

So far, the scientists have managed to develop a computer that can process the brain signals of a person whilst they are either reading or watching something and interpret what it is. The computer essentially interprets the electrical impulses in your brain in exactly the same way as the brain itself, allowing it to build up a "mental picture" of your mind.

The technology has been developed to help paralysed or locked in patients regain control of their surroundings and allow them to communicate with others, but it would be used in the future for us to be able to control our smartphones and other devices using only our minds.

So not only is this reading minds, but it's also ringing some bonus "non-verbal spells" bells as well.