Brain Gadget Power: A thinking cap for wheelchairs

Professor Matteo Matteucci (R) and Ph.d student Bernardo Dal Seno (C), wearing a skullcap mounted with electrodes and wired to a computer as he sits on a special wheel chair at the Politecnico di Milan department in Milan. Italian researchers have developed a wheelchair that obeys mental signals sent to a computer, they said Friday.

from Psysorg

Italian researchers have developed a wheelchair that obeys mental signals sent to a computer, they said Friday.

The researchers at Milan's Polytechnical Institute artificial intelligence and robotics laboratory took three years to develop the system, Professor Matteo Matteucci told AFP. The user is connected to a computer with electrodes on his or her scalp, and sends a signal by concentrating for a few seconds on the name of the desired destination -- kitchen, bedroom, bathroom -- displayed on a screen. The computer then guides the wheelchair to the selected room using a preset programme.

"We don't read minds, but the brain signal that is sent," Matteucci said. The chair is equipped with two laser beams that can detect obstacles. The Milan lab is already in contact with companies that could produce a commercial prototype aimed at quadriplegics, Matteucci said, adding that it could take between five and 10 years.

Such a wheelchair would cost only 10 percent more than a classic motorised wheelchair, according to the institute. Research to develop the so-called Brain Computer Interface began in the early 1980s around the world.

Matteucci said a handful of other researchers were working on similar projects to his, including the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland. "Eventually, a research consortium should be set up that will use all these projects as a basis for finding the best approach," he said. "We've now started work on getting the chair to operate outdoors using a GPS," Matteucci added.

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from Gearlog

Professor Matteo Matteucci of Politecnico di Milan believes that "a research consortium should be set up" for projects concerning the development of brain-powered wheelchairs and similar technologies. For now though, he, PhD student Bernardo Dal Seno and their other colleagues came up with a working prototype of a thought-propelled wheelchair.

After three years of working on it, the wheelchair now works by connecting the user to a computer through putting electrodes on the person's scalp (see image left). These electrodes send the signal capable of controlling the wheelchair's movement. However, the technology isn't so advanced that it could decipher brain signals at length just yet - the user would have to concentrate on a destination's name (i.e., kitchen, bathroom) and then a pre-set program would take the wheelchair to that location. Since it seems a promising technology for quadriplegics, the researchers are already in contact with a few companies that could create a commercial prototype within five to ten years' time.