A computer programme enabling paralysed patients to create artwork using just the power of their brains drew big crowds on Wednesday at the CeBIT, the world’s top IT fair.

Under a system pioneered by Austrian firm g-tec, the user wears a cap that measures brain activity.

By focusing hard on a flashing icon on a screen, the cap can recognise the specific brain activity connected to that item, allowing the user to “choose” what he or she wants the computer to do.

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The artist can select various shapes and colours via brainpower and build up a basic picture on the screen, explained g-tec sales director Markus Bruckner. The user can also draw straight lines.

“This is primarily for disabled people, paralysed people or people who have suffered a stroke,” he said.

The idea came from an artist who had a friend paralysed in an accident who loved painting. The artist wanted to find a way to let the friend draw again, said Bruckner, adding that g-tec was the only company offering this service.

Altogether, the system costs 12,000 euros ($15,600), including the brainwave-reading cap, the computer software and the technology to interpret the brain activity, said Bruckner.

It has already been trialled successfully on severely disabled patients, he added.

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The CeBIT, in the northern German city of Hanover, is the world’s biggest fair for high-tech, attracting this year around 4,100 exhibitors from some 70 countries.