The wheelchair uses a laser scanner to create a three dimensional picture o fthe area around it, which is then displayed on a screen in front of the user. Now this is the part that really gets me.... the user then concentrates on the part of the display where they want to go and their chair responds accordingly.
Now you might be wondering exactly how thats done and it's pretty simple, a skullcap fitted with electrodes is used to detect brain activity of the users and work out their desired destination.
Dr Javier Minguez, who developed the chair at the University of Zaragoza in Spain, said the volunteers took just 45 minutes to learn how to use the chair. He told New Scientist magazine: "The purpose of this work was to demonstrate the usability of the wheelchair."
Now as remarkable as this sounds the wheelchair prototype is far from being ready for commercial use because at the moment it can only handle two thoughts every minute. Dr Mingiez said that he hopes to develop faster and more sophisticated versions in the next few years.Now that's mind boggling! (wink)
