Friday, May 1, 2009

Mind-Controlled Wheelchair Runs on Thought

A couple years ago we mentioned that researchers at the University of Zaragoza in Spain have begun working on a wheelchair that would be operated by thought alone. Now that work has yielded a prototype model that essentially performs the basic task of getting a person from one place to another. By first providing options on a laptop screen for where to go, the system then reads EEG waves as the user focuses on the preferred choice and moves the chair accordingly.

Here's a video from the research team describing how the wheelchair system functions: