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A Car You Can Drive With Your Thoughts
An anonymous reader writes "German researchers have demonstrated a car that can be driven with brain power alone. In the video, a driver wears an EEG head cap, which records brain activity. Software converts the neural signals into steering and acceleration commands, feeding the data into the car's drive-by-wire system. The brain-car interface, which the researchers call the 'BrainDriver,' is far from being commercially viable. But it could one day allow disabled and paralyzed people to gain more mobility. It could also, the researchers say, help people control autonomous vehicles, like a future driverless cab; just by thinking, passengers would tell the cab where to go."
...when the driver spots a totally hot jogger on the sidewalk.
Perfect. Now we just need drivers with brains.
Family is in the car. Keep your breathing steady. Don't think about the red light district. Don't think about the red light district. For fuck's sake don't think about the red light district. Or that apartment on the other side of town. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. The mall, man, get a grip on yourself. Think about the mall. Just focus on the mall. *bead of sweat*...
I sit in a specially designed cradle, and biological actuators interface with an electromechanical control system, converting my neural signals into steering and acceleration commands. It was difficult to master at first; my thoughts about where the car should go didn't quite translate into reality, but after time and experience the interface becomes transparent. Nowadays on my regular commute I can even think about or sometimes do other (simple) things while driving (depending on road/traffic conditions). People often however disbelieve this...
This is a substitute for a clever sig that fits within the maximum number of characters.
modern studies are showing that overall, people's attention spans are decreasing and their minds are wandering. This fact combined with the fact that many people I encounter these days seem to have half a brain; yep, this sounds like a great idea!
Did you ever wake up in the morning, with a Zombie Woof behind your eyes? -- FZ
'This is very important, Mr. Gant, you must think in German. You can't think in English and transpose it. You must think in German. Do you think you can do that, Mr. Gant?'
Wow. Another story about driver-less vehicles. Honestly, who believes such ridiculousness will ever exist? One glitch and there goes a sidewalk full of children. Come on... there are too many variables in the real world. This might be great technology for robotic limbs and video games but lets be realistic.
By the way, is it just me or is the moderation system down?
Can't we just have Johnny Cabs instead? Tell the robot where to go, and it'll take you there. It can even have the terrifyingly ugly rubber face on it, just to complete the package.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
...at least 50% of America won't be able to use this car due to lack of brain power.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
Great! Just find me cost-effective public transit system that works in Wyoming. Or Idaho. Or in any state, outside of the top 2 or 3 urban centers.
Cars are NOT going away any time soon.
The Emotiv Epoch Headset (http://www.emotiv.com/) was rigged to control a wheelchair a few years back with decent success. And as someone who has spent time training with said EEG headset for controls applications (software in my case, but the function is the same) its not as bad as you would at first think.
The technology works on simple pattern recognition, and requires a good bit of training, both for the system and the user. A consumer is certainly not going to be able to drive one off the lot. It's not unlike a voice dictation software; the system needs to learn your particular patterns, and then uses simple "If A, then B" logic to trigger events. So you need to learn to have stable/repeatable patterns for reference.
Well, thats when its trying to detect by pure thought patterns. A much more reliable method is to use the same EEG system to detect specific facial patterns for control (ie blink the left eye to turn left). The aforementioned Emotiv headset can do that right out of the box, with just a few minutes to calibrate thresholds. And since that doesn't have to deal with the interference caused by the different facial ticks, it can be a much more reliable system. Not to mention that its easier to train up a good poker face than it is to control you're whole mindset, especially when spring comes around and all the joggers and sunbathers come out of hiding.
Common Sense isn't as Common as people think...
I really don't want a car that responds to my brain directly. One of the great things about current vehicles is that nodding off at the wheel doesn't mean certain doom when you start dreaming of flying. What about day-dreamers? There's a reason we have bodies, and I think it's because being able to move things with your mind would mean that on an off-day you'd accidentally turn your brain into a pretzel (which I'm fairly certain is an unsupported configuration).
Inanimate objects are wonderfully forgiving.
...or you could just tell the future driver-less cab where you want to go. Sort of how today you can tell a cab with a driver where you want to go.
http://xkcd.com/862/
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Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
Can't wait for all the dumb blond discrimination lawsuits.
The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.