Facebook is developing technology to let users communicate using only their thoughts, the internet giant confirmed on Wednesday night.

A secretive division at Facebook’s California headquarters has been experimenting with mind-reading technology for several months, the company revealed.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, has previously described telepathy as the “ultimate communication technology”, but the social network’s ambitions have been unclear.

At Facebook’s annual developer conference on Wednesday, Regina Dugan, head of the company’s experimental technologies division Building 8, said Facebook was working on “optical neuro-imaging systems” that would allow people to type words directly from their brain at 100 words per minute: five times the speed possible on a smartphone.