Mind controlled wheelchair coming soon
The University of Zaragoza has developed a wheelchair that can be moved by nothing more than thought. Extensive work by teachers and students at the university has created a computer controlled wheelchair that moves by someone thinking where they wan to to go and how fast they want to go. Using a P300 nerophysiological protocol head piece and specialized software, electrical impulses in the brain tell the computer what to do. The P300 looks like a head cap with hundreds of wires hanging out of it. This is the same technology that is used to EEG’s and polygraphs to prove you are telling the truth to the police. There are several prototypes presently in testing and the university hopes to have commercial versions. The biggest hurdle is to train the person to use the chair. Each patient has different ways to think about moving around, turning, backing up, stopping and slowing down. Each has to be captured by the computer so that it can be used as a template to decide what to to. Several versions of each thought process are captured to make sure that the computer reliably performs the correct action every time. (Source University of Zaragoza)
Once trained, the wheelchair is able to do all the regular movements of a standard wheelchair, without the patient having to do anything other than think about it. This is a giant leap past trying to get a cursor to move around on a computer screen using nothing more than thought. Because computers are always getting faster, cheaper, and smaller, more functionality can be added and the chair will be able to respond more quickly to what the patient wants to do. Once the computer is trained, any task can be duplicated. With the addition of a robotic arm, the computer to grab items, pick them up off the floor, or pick things up from a table. Obviously this opens up mobility options that were impossible just a few years ago. Instead of being stuck in a chair unless someone is there to move the patient around, they can now go where they want to. After receiving a spinal cord injury, one realizes mobility is one of the most important things you can get. this wheelchair has the ability to give that back to quadriplegics and others that have limited movement of their legs and arms.
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