Researchers in China unveil mind-controlled car
09 Dec 2015
Researchers from Nankai University in China's north-east port city of Tianjin have developed the country's first mind-controlled car. These engineers have developed a system that can read brain signals and control a car accordingly, Reuters reported.
Currently, the technology can drive a car forward, in reverse, brake, and lock or unlock doors without the need for any physical controls, says the report.
According to the researchers, the car uses nothing but brain power to drive. The Nankai University researchers had spent two years to bring the mind-controlled vehicle to reality.
The forward, backward movements of the vehicle, as also bringing the car to a stop and locking and unlocking the vehicle are done through brain signal-reading equipment worn by the driver, all with no movement of the hands or feet.
According to researcher Zhang Zhao who spoke to Reuters, the equipment comprised 16 sensors that captured EEG (electroencephalogram) signals from the driver's brain. The researchers developed a computer programme that selected the relevant signals and translate them, enabling control of the car.
The project will help provide a driving method for the disabled without using hands and feet while also providing healthy people a better way of driving, Reuters quoted researcher Zhang Zhao as saying.
The researchers are also clear that controlling a vehicle on a busy traffic-heavy road just with your mind would not cause a car crash in case of wandering thought so long as the driver manages to concentrate on the thought when he or she wants to actually change the status of the vehicle.
