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Toyota Demonstrates Brain Control of Wheelchair

Posted by kdawson on from the left-no-left-dammit-left-puff-crash dept.

An anonymous reader tips us that researchers at Toyota have developed a brain-machine interface system that allows for control of a wheelchair using thought. The system processes brain thought patterns (such as the thought of moving one's left foot) and can turn them into left, right, and forward movements of the wheelchair with a delay as short as one-eighth of a second. That's a big improvement over existing systems, which can take as long as several seconds to analyze and react to the user's thoughts. "The system has an emergency stop that can be activated by the user puffing his cheeks. The BMI adjusts itself over time to the characteristics of each driver's brainwaves. If a person dedicates three hours a day to using the system, the BMI can reach 95% accuracy in a week, researchers said."

2 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Re:95% accuracy is pretty awesome. by fractoid · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was going to say just this. 95% sounds good until you start thinking about it - but that means that in every hour of usage, the chair is going to spend three full minutes misbehaving. I can't find exact statistics or standards for conventional electric wheelchairs but I'd be amazed if the mean time before failure is measured in minutes rather than months or years.

    --
    Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
  2. meh.. post some decent articles kdawson by nawcom · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Okay, i'll look like some troll already mods, but give me a second.

    I just feel that this is just another promo ad that gets sent to tech sites from some publicists to get the title of the technology spread with their name on it.

    this article, (06/29/2009)
    Brain controlled wheelchair developed at University of South Florida (02/11/2009)
    from European scientists, Brain Controlled Wheelchair (05/11/2008)
    Ambient Tech creates brain controlled wheelchair (09/06/2007)
    Brain controlled wheelchair from spanish inventor (01/29/2007)
    University of Electro Communications in Japan develop brain controlled wheelchair (08/11/2006)

    Yeah I'll stop. Mod me down. I just think it's odd that this stuff gets press like it's something brand new. Perhaps sell us by saying its much better? Something. Please.