Drive This Car With Your Mind — Like a Jedi

What's This?

Nic Halverson for Discovery News 2013-11-01 17:41:04 UTC

Thanks to EEG sensors, controlling objects with the mind has leaped off the pages of science fiction and into reality. Recently, we’ve told you about people controlling drones, exoskeletons — even other people — simply by putting on their thinking caps.

SEE ALSO: Quirky Vending Machines Dispense Wit and Wonder

Alejo Bernal, a recent graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven, has developed a similar project by designing a toy car that can be driven forward with thought, as long as users wear a NeuroSky EEG headset.

While it’s easy to imagine Bernal’s car being the slickest remote-controlled toy on the block, the car wasn’t designed so much for play as it was for improving concentration skills, especially for those diagnosed with attention deficit disorders. When users focus on moving the car, the vehicle lights up to indicate neuronal activity.

“As you try to focus, the increased light intensity of the vehicle indicates the level of attention you have reached,” Bernal told Dezeen . “Once the maximum level is achieved and retained for seven seconds, the vehicle starts moving forward. This project helps users to develop deeper, longer concentration by exercising the brain. It is possible for people to train or treat their minds through their own effort and not necessarily using strong medicines, such as ritalin.”

SEE ALSO: Neurocam Scans Your Brain, Records Your Interests

Bernal’s project currently exists only as a working prototype, so don’t expect the car to hit the market any time soon. Still, we’d love to take it for a test drive.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Chris Bevan