Get Hands Free Comfort With The Brain Controlled Car

If you feel too tired to drive after a long day at your office or if you are simply too lazy to put your hands on the steering wheel, then this information is one of the best tech news that you had ever received. Read carefully folks, there is a car that can be controlled and driven by just sensing the signals coming from the driver’s mind! This absolutely awesome technology is the brainchild of a team of researchers led by Raul Rojas, who is a professor of artificial intelligence at Germany’s Freie University at Berlin. This novel application of brain-computer interface will make a person capable of controlling their vehicles without using a steering wheel.

A lot of research is going on in the field of brain- computer interface such as robots, prosthetic limbs, television, etc. All these applications make use of sensors which pick up the brain waves in the form of EEG signals (Electro Encephalo Graph) and these are translated into mechanical actions.

This new project called the “BrainDriver” makes use of the “Emotiv neroheadset” which records the brain activity in the driver. The headset is basically a EEG device which was manufactured by the company “Emotiv” for video games. However the car is still in the experimental phase. Also, the car is not as easy to drive as it sounds. A driver has to go through a training session in order to learn the art of moving virtual objects just by thinking about them. Once you are able to control the simulated version of the car then only can you test it on a track. Although I have said that this car is in experimental mode, still you can see it in action on the link that I have given at the end of this article.

The BrainDriver can be a very valuable discovery which will be of great help for the handicapped people. This human machine interface will assist the physically challenged people to lead an independent life. However, it must be checked that this system is totally safe before it is commercially launched. A lot of things are going on in our mind while we are driving. If such thoughts are able to hamper the performance of the car, then it can lead to many accidents also. Only time will tell wheather this car is a success or a flop. So till then, keep driving safely with your hands on the steering wheel.