UK Scientists Design Brainwave Controlled Wheelchair

posted on Feb 03 by Stacy in the Disability News, Technology, Wheelchair Technology category

At Essex University in Colchester, UK, scientists have designed a wheelchair that people with disabilities can control by just thinking. By thinking “turn left,” or “go backwards,” the wheelchair moves the person. This is a great breakthrough since it could allow those who are unable to speak and move regain their mobility.

The wheelchair works by having the user put on a hat, which then records brainwaves and moves the wheelchair. Professor Huosheng Hu, developer of the device, says that while it needs lots of testing, it could someday be marketed. He remarked, ““It is at the experimental stage, but we have proved we can make it work. We know from people who have had severe strokes and recovered, it is often like being trapped in a prison. You can hear and understand, but you can’t move.”

For the first time, you could teach someone to control the wheelchair, even if they couldn’t talk. Sometimes users have to be taught how to control their brain in a way that the wheelchair picks up, plus if they are thinking about too many things, the chair may not be able to decipher the correct brainwaves.

At this point, the brainwave controlled wheelchair responds to forward, back, right, left, and stop. Hopefully in the future the wheelchair will be able to be programmed to stop if the user expressed a dangerous command that put the person in harms way.

Would you use this type of wheelchair? Why or why not?