Surfing around on a quiet summer afternoon, and I ran across this little tidbit. Toyota Motors, famous mostly for Corollas and Four-Runners, has discovered a way to instantly transmit some commands via brain cells to a powered wheelchair.
This technology already exists in one form from Honda researchers, but the difference with the new advances by Toyota is that commands can be sent almost instantly. The user of a specialized chair can “think” about moving forward, right, or left, and the chair will immediately follow those commands. A special cap worn by the user is able to pick up brain waves and immediately interpret those waves to provide function.
Apparently stopping is not so easy, however, and has to be done through a physical command (the puffing of a cheek onto a sensor). But hey, once you’re moving, why would you want to stop, anyway? :)
Neither Toyota nor Honda will say that their current work will translate into commercial products, and state specifically that they are more interested in furthering their research at this time. However, the implications are that with this type of developing technology, more and more mobility can be provided to those who are wheelchair-bound, or mobility impaired.