Computer Scientists at Freie
Universität Couple Brain Waves with Driving Technology – Testing at Former
Tempelhof Airport
(February 17, 2011) You need to keep your thoughts from
wandering, if you drive using the new technology from the AutoNOMOS innovation
labs of Freie Universität Berlin. The computer scientists have developed a
system making it possible to steer a car with your thoughts. Using new
commercially available sensors to measure brain waves – sensors for recording
electroencephalograms (EEG) – the scientists were able to distinguish the
bioelectrical wave patterns for control commands such as “left,” “right,”
“accelerate” or “brake” in a test subject. They then succeeded in developing an
interface to connect the sensors to their otherwise purely computer-controlled
vehicle, so that it can now be “controlled” via thoughts. Driving by thought
control was tested on the site of the former Tempelhof Airport.
The scientists from Freie
Universität first used the sensors for measuring brain waves in such a way that
a person can move a virtual cube in different directions with the power of his
or her thoughts. The test subject thinks of four situations that are associated
with driving, for example, “turn left” or “accelerate.” In this way the person
trained the computer to interpret bioelectrical wave patterns emitted from his
or her brain and to link them to a command that could later be used to control
the car. The computer scientists connected the measuring device with the
steering, accelerator, and brakes of a computer-controlled vehicle, which made
it possible for the subject to influence the movement of the car just using his
or her thoughts.