NISSAN is working on the car of the future – and it will be able to read the driver’s mind and predict their next move.
Working with scientists at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland (EPFL), Nissan wants to make roads as safe as possible.
The EPFL scientists are well suited to the investigations for their research on Brain Machine Interface (BMI) systems already allows disabled users to manoeuvre their wheelchairs by thought transference alone.
The next stage is to adapt the BMI processes to the car – and driver – of the future.
Nissan and EPFL scientists are trying to go to the next stage with brain-machine interface in predicting the driver’s next move using brain activity, eye movement patterns, and scanning the environment around the car are all made.
The scientists have been joined by a researcher from Nissan – Lucian Gheorghe.
Christopher Benardis, GM product economic and control, business development & OC-E Office at Nissan International SA, said: ‘As part of our recently announced six year plan – Nissan Power 88 – we are focusing on new technologies.
‘We have already developed a number of advanced safety systems for our cars – such as Intelligent Cruise Control, Distance Control Assist or Moving Object Detection, all systems that constantly scan the environment around the car - and the research being undertaken by EPFL complements this perfectly.’
Professor José del R. Millán, leading the project, said: ‘The idea is to blend driver and vehicle intelligence together in such a way that eliminates conflicts between them, leading to a safer motoring environment.’