IEEE news: THOUGHT POWERED WHEELCHAIRS IN DEVELOPMENT

A new wheelchair commanded by thoughts is currently in development by researchers at the University of Zaragoza in Spain. The chair will use a process called brain-computer interface, or BCI for short, which involves attaching electroencephalogram electrodes to a rider’s scalp, which then record brain rhythms and convey them to the chair’s computer. Two 800-MHz Intel computers mounted on the wheelchair will process these readings and send instructions to the wheels. While the signals are crude, advances in decoding algorithms are have made it possible to train the software to recognize simple commands such as turn left or turn right. Over time, more specific commands, such as moving to a certain room by thinking of it, will become understood by the software. To combat misinterpreted commands, a laser will be attached to the front of the chair to avoid collisions with the surroundings. The technology is still a couple years away from being perfected, and the researchers are looking at 2008 or 2009 before they will have a working prototype. Read more: the link