Nissan develops technology to control cars with brain signals

Image: Newspress/Nissan via AFP Relaxnews

If you’re not yet convinced about the positives of driverless vehicle technology, you’re probably going to be even more skeptical about the latest research Nissan has just revealed details of.

That’s because the Japanese auto giant has announced it’s having success with developing technology that will enable vehicles to be controlled by interpreting signals from the driver’s brain, which really would revolutionize how we interact with our cars.

Nissan calls this technology Brain-to-Vehicle, or B2V, and the claim is that the technology will speed up reaction times so vehicles can continually adapt to make driving more enjoyable than it is already. Nissan is going to be demonstrating B2V at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Jan. 9 to 12.

B2V is the latest development in Nissan Intelligent Mobility, which is the automaker’s ongoing vision of how vehicles will be driven, powered, and integrated into society in the future.

Nissan’s executive vice president, Daniele Schillaci, explains, “When most people think about autonomous driving, they have a very impersonal vision of the future, where humans relinquish control to the machines. Yet B2V technology does the opposite, by using signals from their own brain to make the drive even more exciting and enjoyable. Through Nissan Intelligent Mobility, we are moving people to a better world by delivering more autonomy, more electrification and more connectivity.”

While driverless vehicle technology has been in development for some time, Nissan’s B2V technology is thought to be the first system of its kind in the world, and an entirely different direction from where most manufacturers are concentrating their efforts. The driver has to wear a device capable of detecting and measuring brain wave activity, which can then be analyzed by autonomous-drive systems. By anticipating intended movement, the onboard systems are able to take appropriate actions such as turning the steering wheel or slowing the car as much as 0.2 to 0.5 seconds faster than the driver can manage manually, while at the same time remaining mostly imperceptible.

At CES, Nissan will be demonstrating some elements of the new system using a driving simulator, and someone will be on hand to answer questions, of which there will probably be many. JB

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