Nissan Car That Reads Your Brain Signals Could Be On The Road By 2023

All drivers know that a delayed reaction on the road, even by a fraction of a second, can be the difference between being safe and in a dangerous situation.

So what if our cars could anticipate our every move and react before we are even able to move our hands on the wheel?

Nissan has created brain-to-vehicle technology (known as B2V) that reads your brain signals while you’re in the car and preempts your actions. And they want the system in practical use within five to ten years.

The new system, part of Nissan’s ‘Intelligent Mobility’ programme will require you to wear a device to measure brain wave activity while you’re in the driver’s seat. The data is then analysed in real time.

It promises to speed up your reaction times, for example when changing lanes on the motorway or taking a tight corner, the system will anticipate what is about to happen and turn the wheel or slow the car approximately 0.2 seconds before you complete the action.

A spokesperson for Nissan tells HuffPost UK: “By catching signs the driver’s brain is about to initiate a movement driver assist technologies can begin the action more quickly.”

This brain decoding technology promises to make driving more enjoyable because it requires less effort, and when in autonomous (autopilot) mode it can detect passenger discomfort and change the driving configuration or driving style.

“Our goal is to offer the optimum level of driving assistance in manual driving mode so that a driver can be in complete control of his or her car,” the spokesperson said.

The company hopes that the B2V technology will also combat consumer fears around autonomous driving being "out of their control".

Nissan executive vice president Daniele Schillaci said: “When most people think about autonomous driving, they have a very impersonal vision of the future, where humans relinquish control to the machines.

“Yet B2V technology does the opposite, by using signals from their own brain.”

Nissan will demonstrate capabilities of this exclusive technology at the CES 2018 trade show in Las Vegas using a driving simulator.