Chinese researchers creates mind-controlling vehicles

The advanced tech-world has enabled the manufacturers to construct vehicles with different properties. One of the examples is the creation of 'mind-controlling' cars.

According to Reuters, the research team from Nankai University has worked for the whole two years to bring merely an idea of the mind-controlling car into reality. Researchers belonging to the northeastern Chinese port city of Tianjin mentioned that it is China's first ever car that runs by using just brain power.

For the vehicle to be driven without the assistance of the driver's hands and foot movement, he/she needs to wear brain signal-reading equipment a driver. Without manual power assistance, it can then move the car forward, backward, come to a stop, and also both lock and unlock the vehicle.

Researcher Zhang Zhao explained how the equipment works. There are 16 sensors embedded in the equipment that capture EEG (electroencephalogram) signals from the driver's brain. A computer program was also developed to control the car by selecting the applicable signals and translating them.

"The tester's EEG signals are picked up by this (brain signal-reading) equipment and transmitted wirelessly to the computer. The computer processes the signals to categorize and recognize people's intention and then translates them into control command to the car. The core of the whole flow is to process the EEG signals, which is done on the computer," said Zhang.

The idea of the mind-controlling car is very catching. But every idea comes with related benefits to revolutionize the technology world, as mentioned by Forbes. The pros of this concept are still transparent as there are many limitations holding it back.

For now, the vehicle is only capable of moving in a straight direction with no ability to make turns. The researchers revealed no plans when to put the idea into production. However, it's not that soon.

The concept might be fascinating, but using your mind to control a car might not prove that effective.  However, the idea was formulated for two purposes; to help people, disabled with hands and feet and secondly, "to provide healthy people with a new and more intellectualized driving mode," as Zhang maintained.

Duan Feng additionally considered the potential road accidents that can be caused due to the driver being distracted mentally, as reported by India Today. But the possibility is minimized as the concentration is only required when taking a turn or changing lanes.

Despite the new mind-controlling technology, which can be used for multiple purposes, it is still not confirmed whether the drivers will accept this technology or not.