Chinese researchers develop a car driven by mind control

It sounds like something out of magic or science fiction, but it seems a group of Chinese researchers has managed to make the old joke “Look, Mom, no hands!” come true. And no, they haven’t advanced toward creating a self-driving car; instead, their prototype, according to reports, is capable of performing the maneuvers of a car thanks to mind control. Is it really true?

Let’s look into it a little further. The research team at Nankai University has been working for several years on a system that reads the signals emitted by the brain through an electroencephalogram and is capable of transmitting those signals to a central processor, which interprets them and converts them into commands that the car turns into actions. Furthermore, it avoids the use of cables between the head sensor and the onboard computer, as it is a wireless system.

The system is in an early stage of development, but it is already capable of moving a vehicle forward or backward without touching the pedals

Surprising, isn’t it? Apparently, this research began when someone tried to find a solution to enable disabled people to drive, drivers who cannot move their hands or legs and consequently are unable to carry out the actions needed to drive. In these situations, thanks to the system under development, they will be able to operate a vehicle without difficulty with just a thought. Well, I suppose things are considerably more complex than that, but that is the basis of the project.

For now, this system is not capable of turning the steering wheel or performing other complex maneuvers. It can only, for the time being, go forward or backward, responding to the driver’s thoughts, and stop and lock the vehicle. But this already seems fantastic to me, and they have only just begun experimenting with it. In a few years, they may offer new applications and advances to the project, and who knows, it may end up being a major breakthrough. What worries me is that, if it moves by the impulses of the brain, we might end up with the classic “Look, Mom, no teeth…”

[jwplayer file=”https://youtu.be/xh_Kah_yGYk” autostart=”false” mute=”off”]

Via | Carscoops