Chinese researchers in the north-east port city of Tianjin have recently revealed the first mind-controlled vehicle.
This is the country’s first vehicle that uses nothing but brain power to drive. The research team from Nankai University spent two years developing this technology and bringing the mind-controlled vehicle to reality.
The vehicle is able to the go forward, backwards, come to a stop, and both lock and unlock the vehicle, all without the driver moving their hands or feet and only by wearing brain signal-reading equipment. The equipment comprises of 16 sensors that capture EEG (electroencephalogram) signals from the driver’s brain. The researchers developed a computer program that selects the relevant signals and translates them, enabling control of the car.
“The tester’s EEG signals are picked up by this (brain signal-reading) equipment and transmitted wirelessly to the computer. The computer processes the signals to categorize and recognize intentions, then translates them into control commands to the car. The core of the whole flow is to process the EEG signals, which is done on the computer,” said researcher Zhang Zhao.
Leading the project is Associate Professor Duan Feng, from the university’s College of Computer and Control Engineering. He emphasized that the technology is aimed at better serving human beings, and that it might soon be possible to combine brain controlled technology and driverless cars, such as the Google Self Driving Car (SDC).
“Driverless cars’ further development can bring more benefits to us, since we can better realize functions relating to brain controlling with the help of the driverless cars’ platform,” said Duan. “In the end, cars, whether driverless or not, and machines, are for serving people. Under such circumstances, people’s intentions must be recognized. In our project, it makes the cars better serve human beings.”
Duan said worries about potential road accidents caused by the driver being distracted while their brain was in control of his team’s car were unfounded, because concentration was needed only when changing the vehicle’s moving status, such as when changing lanes or turning. Whether such an application would be enough to persuade drivers to get behind the wheel and control a car with their mind is far from certain, though.
The researchers say their initial idea to develop this vehicle was inspired by helping disabled people who are physically unable to steer their cars.
“There are two starting points of this project. The first one is to provide a driving method without using hands or feet for the disabled who are unable to move freely; and secondly, to provide healthy people with a new and more intellectualized driving mode,” Zhang said.
The vehicle used for the experiment is made in collaboration with Chinese car manufacturer Great Wall Motor. It can only drive in a straight direction, and at the moment the mind-controlled vehicle remains a study with no further plans to put it into production.
Source: Reuters
