Japanese Technology Moves Wheelchair with Brain Waves

Tokyo, July 2 (Jiji Press)--Thanks to recent technological
developments by a Japanese team, people unable to move their muscles are
expected to be able to operate a wheelchair utilizing their brain waves.

The team, led by government-affiliated research institute Riken and
Toyota Motor Corp. <7203>, has developed a prototype electrically powered
wheelchair that can be controlled by the brain. The development is a step
closer to putting into practice a system that will allow the disabled to
maneuver wheelchairs simply by thinking.
In a demonstration given earlier this week in Tokyo, a wheelchair
was made to move forward and turn through signals from brain waves detected
by five devices installed in headgear worn by the person in the wheelchair.
The Riken BSI-Toyota Collaboration Center has succeeded in
developing a new real-time system that utilizes changes in brain waves
caused when people attempt to move their hands and legs.
When moving forward, the user can maneuver the wheelchair with the
same brain waves produced when thinking of moving the legs. Left or right
turns are made by the user moving the corresponding hands.
"Recently, technological developments in the area of brain machine
interface (BMI) have received much attention," the team said in a statement.
"Such systems allow elderly or handicapped people to interact with
the world through signals from their brain waves, without having to give
voice commands," it said.
Although a similar system exists, the new system has what the team
claims to be one of the fastest technologies in the world. This allows the
wheelchair to function in as little as 0.125 second after the brain waves
are detected, against several seconds required by conventional systems,
according to the team.
The higher speed was achieved through the reduction of brain wave
detection devices, enabling the use of a notebook personal computer to
process the brain signals and therefore shorten analysis times.
In addition, the new system employs technology that cuts
interference and catches brain wave characteristics more effectively.
A daily three hours of practice over a one-week period is required
if the user is to be able to control the system with a success rate of 95
pct.
According to Hitoshi Yamada, researcher of the Riken BSI-Toyota
Collaboration Center, training and brain wave detection devices should be
simplified if the system is to be put into practical use.