Google has been putting efforts to develop driverless cars and a lot of science fiction fans have been following the story. The futuristic car-wars is now taken to the next level by researchers from Nanakai University in Tianjin, China as they embark in a journey to building the first car that runs without using hands or feet.
Nanakai University researchers partnered with, Chinese car-maker, Great Wall Motor. The partnership has been going on for two years and the project shows great potential.
By attaching a headgear that picks up brain signals from the driver and to the car, they have made limbless driving a possibility. The device picks up electroencephalogram signals from the driver's brain and turns them into commands that makes the car accelerate, stop, etc.
The device is not yet ready to be used by the public and is still in a very early stage of development, according to The Car Connection.
One of the greatest breakthroughs that is foreseen in the future of this technology is its potential positive effects to a disabled person's way of life.
Despite of the good things this technology is bringing to humanity, there are still skeptics who are worried of a few safety concerns. The device is manipulated solely by using brain signals. It means that the driver cannot multitask. According to Carbonated, a slight second of not paying attention could lead to accidents.
As of the moment, the device can only do so much. For now, it is still unable to do steering commands and is limited only to driving in a straight direction.
Zhang Zao, one of the researchers say, "There are two starting points of this project. The first one is to provide a driving method without using hands or feet for the disabled who are unable to move freely," he continues by saying, "Secondly, to provide healthy people with a new and more intellectualized driving mode."
The researchers are very open to partnering with other driverless-cars developers in order to create even better services to compliment physical driving.
