I don't drive, but I can be an annoying passenger some of the time - my mind travels with the car, and I get frustrated when I can't keep up, or if I am ahead of whoever is driving. But perhaps my mind will be enough; new technology may allow for drivers to use their minds to brake, and maybe eventually drive entirely.
There is a moment that lasts about 700 milliseconds just before a driver decides to brake, where brainwaves are being emitted. It is these brainwaves that can now be detected and interperated by a system designed by Stefen Haufe et al. In the study, scientists at Berlin Institute of Technology in Germany measured changes in brain wave changes while participants drove in a car simulator.
“Our approach was to obtain the intention of the driver faster than he could actually act,” Haufe says. This would certainly make a huge difference in the numbers of collisions; isn't it always those few seconds that lead to regret?
But there are a few kinks and many skeptics. Even when the system is working at its best, it slams on the brakes almost two times per hour. Also, drivers whould have to wear an uncomfortable and unattractive EEG cap. With that many false alarms, it may be more dangerous than safe.
I heard somewhere that there was a time when they thought that there was a limit in the amount of memory you can have in a computer. So maybe this is just one of those things. Time will create the technology needed to work out the kinks. I wonder how much we could control with our minds...
Credits: Stefan Haufe et al 2011 J. Neural Eng. 8 056001 doi: 10.1088/1741-2560/8/5/056001
No comments:
Post a Comment