A wheelchair commanded only using the mind…this is not magic nor is it the scene of a sci-fi movie but it is a revolutionary high tech development by the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory of the Milan Polytechnic Institute. It was developed with an important goal in mind: making people with neurological problems, either since birth or due to accidents or illnesses, completely self- sufficient.
“This wheelchair developed at the Milan Polytechnic Institute – explained Matteo Matteucci – is a robotic aid which exploits a cerebral interface called BCI, Brain Computer Interface, allowing the user to command it without using any type of muscular strength but only with brain activity, picked up by an electroencephalograph and interpreted through an Artificial Intelligence program”.
“This robotic wheelchair functions by placing electrodes on the head of the person using it which “read” the electrical activity developed by the neurons, then translating it into commands through a specific interface which move the wheelchair”. “The wheelchair has a processor connected to the Brain Computer Interface System – Mr. Matteucci continued – “and the places the user wants to reach are visualized on a monitor. The user has to only look at the images on the monitor and concentrate on where to go. The program “translates” the neural signals of the brain into commands and automatically directs the wheelchair to the chosen destination”.