Forget driverless cars. Researchers in China have begun work on cars that can be driven with nothing but our minds.
Hailing from Nankai University in Tianjin, China, the team have been working on a car that only requires a driver and signal-reading equipment to drive. With gear that includes 16 EEG sensors, the technology can read the driver’s brain signals, trainslate them, and direct the car as desired.
As of yet, these mind-controlled cars can go forward, backwards, stop, and both lock and unlock the car all by thought. Getting distracted won’t affect the efficiency of driving, according to Associate Professor Dual Feng, from the university’s College of Computer and Control Engineering, and leader of the project. He told Reuters that concentration is only needed to change the vehicle’s “moving status,” like changing lanes and turning.
Feng also believes this technology can be used in conjunction with driverless cars like those being developed by Google, and is being developed with the handicapped in mind. So far the current vehicle can only drive in a straight direction, and is being developed in collaboration with the Chinese car manufacturer Great Wall Motor. There are no plans to put it into production, though that could change with any leaps in progress.
Could this lead to a focus on mind-controlled cars over driverless cars? Will there be cars that allow for multiple ways to steer, including the driverless option, the mind-controlled option and the traditional hands-on-wheel approach? Which option do you like the most? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Reuters.