Carmakers like Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla are hard at work on autonomous systems that use computers to drive cars. Chinese researchers, however, are taking another approach to the future of hands-free driving.
Researchers at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, developed a car they say can be driven using only brainpower. The experiment, which was created in partnership with Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor, can be driven forward, backward, stopped -- as well as locked and unlocked -- from the backseat without the operator using his or her hands or feet, according to the researchers.
This system is composed of 16 sensors that capture EEG (electroencephalogram) signals from the driver's brain.
"The tester's EEG signals are picked up by this (brain signal-reading) equipment and transmitted wirelessly to the computer," researcher Zhang Zhao told Reuters. "The computer processes the signals to categorize and recognize people's intention, then translates them into control command to the car. The core of the whole flow is to process the EEG signals, which is done on the computer."
The system only needs the driver to pay attention when changing the state of the vehicle, such as breaking.
While the experiment is certainly futuristic, it's unlikely such a system would ever be offered to consumers. For one thing, the car can't be steered by the mind, and there are virtually no benefits of a mind-driven car over a self-driving, autonomous car. After all, human error is the cause of more than 90% of all traffic collisions -- hence the move toward less human involvement, not more.