Cars will read your mind in the future

Japanese automaker Nissan is collaborating with Swiss scientists to develop a car that can read its driver’s mind, and thus predict his next move.   

Nissan announced that its cooperation with researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland (EPFL) is intended to balance the necessities of road safety with the requirements of personal transport.   

Scientists at the EPFL have already developed brain-machine interface (BMI) systems that allow wheelchair users to maneuver their chairs by thought transference. Their next step will be finding a way to integrate that technology into the way drivers interact with their cars.   

If they succeed, the vehicles of the future will be able to prepare themselves for a right or left turn, choosing the correct speed and positioning, by estimating their drivers’ next turn.    
However, although BMI technology is well-known, the required levels of human concentration needed to make it work are extremely high. This is why the research team is working on systems that will use statistical analysis to predict the driver’s next move “and assess his cognitive state pertaining to the driving environment”.