If autonomous cars are shaping the future of the automobile, other technologies could revolutionize our uses in vehicles. At the IAA Mobility Show this week in Munich, Mercedes-Benz presented a system to control certain elements by thought.
The Vision AVTR concept car, already unveiled at CES in January 2020, was shown in a new light at this motor show by detailing a little more this technology based on brain-machine interaction. According to the German manufacturer, it would be possible to just think of an interaction and the vehicle would obey your every thought.
For the moment, this experimental device would make it possible to interact with the navigation system by simply thinking of its destination for the vehicle to take you there, by changing the interior lighting at will or by controlling the radio to change station.
© Mercedes-Benz
Called BCI (for brain-computer interface), this device is currently in the form of a band fitted with electrodes. “After a short calibration process, the BCI device attached to the user’s head analyzes the measured brain waves and triggers a defined function,” explains Mercedes-Benz on his blog dedicated to the IAA.
Keep your eyes on the road
“BCI technology can help relieve the user even more so that they can concentrate on the driving experience,” explains Markus Schäfer, member of the board of directors of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG. The BCI thus measures in real time the electrical signals of the brain picked up by the electrodes and is able to understand what the wearer is focusing on and the interactions he wishes to have with the machine. Mercedes also thinks of passengers with disabilities who could not use the different options of a vehicle. The idea is not to have to speak or move a finger to interact with your car.
The designers of the Vision AVTR were inspired by the film Avatar (2009) in the development of this vehicle. Director James Cameron has also shared with Mercedes his vision of the automobile around the technologies mentioned in his film where his protagonists used a brain-machine interface to take possession of the body of the Na’vi.
