Chinese researchers have developed a new system that allows people to drive a car using mind control.
Engineers from Nankai University in Tianjin spent two years developing a special headset that can read electric signals in the driver’s brain and translate them into instructions via new software.
As it stands, the headset can be used to make the car drive forward, reverse, brake and also lock and unlock the doors without the need for any physical input whatsoever.
Although it seems like something straight from science fiction, it’s far from a gimmick and was originally developed to help paralysed or elderly drivers otherwise too frail to drive.
Researcher Zhang Zhao told Reuters: “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.”
The researchers also stressed that the mind control system is safe, and that letting your thoughts wander when on the road wouldn’t cause the car to veer off the road or to crash.
According to the team, you only need to concentrate on the thought when you want to change the speed or direction of the car, something which drivers unconsciously do anyway.
The ultimate plan, the researchers say, is to integrate the headset with driverless cars, working as more of a complementary service rather than a full alternative to physically driving.
Professor Duan Feng, who led the project, said: “In the end, cars, whether driverless or not, and machines are serving for people.
“Under such circumstances, people's intentions must be recognized. In our project, it makes the cars better serve human beings.”
