Wondrous machines.
A robot transmits the subject’s finger movements directly to the stylus on her back and to her VR glasses. This enables the neuroscientist Olaf Blanke and his team at EPFL to create hallucinations and study what happens in the brain. The photographer Matthieu Gafsou has created these images of the unusual devices used in brain research. | Images: Matthieu Gafsou

Preparing a cap with electrodes to measure brain waves. A conductive gel is applied so that the electrodes have optimal contact with the scalp.

The electrodes in the cap use traffic-light colours to report contact with the scalp. The brain waves they measure can be used to make diagnoses, conduct research and control devices.

This apparatus provides all-round photography and realistic sound recordings. The neuroscientist Olaf Blanke and his team use it to study how we navigate in virtual reality.

Two wheelchair-users are training for the Cybathlon at EPFL: it’s a competition between research teams. The two men control an avatar using brain-computer interfaces designed by José del R. Millán and his team.

This wildly moving device puts one’s sense of balance to the test. Olaf Blanke and his team at EPFL are using it to study our sense of self-perception when we are spun round and shaken.

Brain regions can be activated precisely using a magnetic coil at the back of the head. Olivier Reynaud from Campus Biotech in Geneva is using it to localise the site of a stroke. This device can also prompt other brain regions to assume the function that has been lost.