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EARTHDATE: October 2, 2011

Official News page 5


REAL LIFE NEWS: THE CAR THAT READS YOUR MIND

by Hazed

Imagine a car that can anticipate your every move and ensure it's ready to carry out your instruction.

That's the plan coming out of a collaboration between car-maker Nissan, and scientists in Switzerland. They want to use a brain-machine interface that will let the car read your mind.

The scientists have already come up with a system that allows wheelchair users to maneuver their chairs with the power of thought alone. Now they want to advance that technology so it can help motorists interact with their vehicles.

The idea is that the car would be able to tell that you were thinking about turning right or left, and would choose the correct speed and positioning for you. They think that by measuring the brain activity, monitoring patterns of eye movement and scanning the car's environment, they can make a correct prediction and help the driver complete the action safely.

Thankfully, they don't envisage doing away with the steering wheel altogether. Can you imagine if you controlled the car entirely by thought? If your mental ramblings suddenly veered in an unexpected direction, anything could happen! "Oh dear, I wonder if I LEFT the window open?" could have the car suddenly turning left. "It really is time for me to STOP smoking," and the car slams on the brakes. That could be disastrous!

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/sep/28/nissan-car-reads-drivers-mind


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