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xcel
07-01-2009, 09:01 AM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Japanese_Flag_30x22.jpg Spooky tech or the wave of the future? (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=219162)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Brainwave_control_of_wheelchair.jpgWayne Gerdes - CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) - July, 1, 2009

Wheelchairs to start... Your car to come.

A new signal processing technology for brain machine interface (BMI) application

The BSI-TOYOTA Collaboration Center has succeeded in developing a system which utilizes one of the fastest technologies in the world, controlling a wheelchair using brain waves in as little as 125 milliseconds. BTCC was established in 2007 by RIKEN, an independent administrative institution, as a collaborative project with Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Central R&D Labs, Inc., and Genesis Research Institute, Inc. Also collaborating in the research were Andrzej Cichocki, Unit Leader, and Kyuwan Choi, Research Scientist, of BTCC’s Noninvasive BMI Unit.

Recently technological developments in the area of brain machine interface (BMI) have received much attention. Such systems allow elderly or handicapped people to interact with the world through signals from their brains, without having to give voice commands.

BTCC’s new system fuses RIKEN’s blind signal separation and space-time-frequency filtering technology to allow brain-wave analysis in as little as 125 ms, as compared to several seconds required by conventional methods. Brain-wave analysis results are displayed on a panel so quickly that drivers do not sense any delay. The system has the capacity to adjust itself to the characteristics of each individual driver, and thereby is able to improve the efficiency with which it senses the driver’s commands. Thus the driver is able to get the system to learn his/her commands (forward/right/left) quickly and efficiently. The new system has succeeded in having drivers correctly give commands to their wheelchairs. An accuracy rate of 95% was achieved, one of the highest in the world.

Major advantages of the new technology:
Commands for smooth left and right turns and forward motion of the wheelchair are processed every 125 milliseconds by analyzing brain waves using signal processing technology.


Brain-wave analysis data are displayed on a screen in real time, giving neuro-feedback to the driver for efficient operation.


This technology is expected to be useful in the field of rehabilitation, and for physical and psychological support of wheelchair drivers.
Plans are underway to utilize this technology in a wide range of applications centered on medicine and nursing care management. R&D under consideration includes increasing the number of commands given and developing more efficient dry electrodes. So far the research has centered on brain waves related to imaginary hand and foot control. However, through further measurement and analysis it is anticipated that this system may be applied to other types of brain waves generated by various mental states and emotions.

laurieaw
07-01-2009, 09:37 AM
the biggest problem that i see with this technology is that most drivers on the road today don't USE their brains.

Taliesin
07-01-2009, 09:52 AM
My first thought is that the distance most people follow at will finally be safe.

But then Laurie has a good point too.
They might be using their brains for cell phone calls, texting, etc., but not driving.

booferama
07-01-2009, 10:00 AM
I'm not sure I trust my impulse control enough to have one of these.

Taliesin
07-01-2009, 10:02 AM
I'm not sure I trust my impulse control enough to have one of these.

Oof... Hadn't thought of that either.

See someting out of the corner of your eye, all of a sudden you are steering for it...

Not good.

Chuck
07-01-2009, 10:03 AM
http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/funny-pictures-the-vulcan-mind-meld-is-not-working.jpg

Bucko
07-01-2009, 10:39 AM
An accuracy rate of 95% was achieved, one of the highest in the world

What happend the other 5% of the time? Turn left...I SAID LEFT AHHHHHHHHH

booferama
07-01-2009, 10:47 AM
"Man, that girl is hot. Wait--why is my car steering for her? Nooooooooooo!"

beatr911
07-01-2009, 10:59 AM
Soon wheelchair bound folks will have the best trained minds in the world. Maybe the rest of us will learn some discipline from it in other robotics applications.

Wierd thought for the rest of us: Imagine someone mowing the lawn remotely from the Lay-Z-Boy wearing one of these with the camera on the mower displaying on the big screen TV. Surely we can find more ways to use fantastic tech to make us even more sedentary.

Shiba3420
07-01-2009, 11:47 AM
"Man, that girl is hot. Wait--why is my car steering for her? Nooooooooooo!"

Hi. My car wanted us to meet....so, after you get out of hospital, you wanna go out for dinner or something?

JusBringIt
07-01-2009, 12:02 PM
If this technology reaches full potential...it'll work really well.

Thoughts don't necessarily have to project into action. As long as the waves are interpreted correctly 100% of the time, there's nothing to worry about.



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