Wheelchairs Of The Future To Be Controlled By Thought

If you think it, it will move. That’s the idea behind new wheelchair technology from Toyota which responds to commands from a user’s brain waves.

The development announced Monday is significant because of the speed with which the technology can analyze brain wave commands. In just 125 milliseconds — so fast that users do not sense any delay — the chair can respond to commands to go forward, right or left.

Here’s how it works: the individual using the wheelchair wears a cap, which reads brain waves. A computer program analyzes the brain waves and tells the wheelchair where to move. The only hitch right now is stopping the chair, which reportedly requires users to puff their cheek.

The technology is still being researched and Toyota currently has no plans to make it publicly available.