Jaguar is Working On Tech That Can Read The Driver’s Mind

With technology advancing with each passing moment, soon will come a day when man and machine would be able to drift mentally with each other almost seamlessly. Or make machines better than mankind itself.

Several car companies are trying to develop and integrate technology that will make roads safer and reduce the number of accidents caused by driver error. As the first step towards this quest, English car maker, Jaguar Land Rover announced a new technology called ‘Mind Sense’ earlier this week. This tech will allow cars in the future to read the driver’s mind, health and predict their actions.

Mind Sense will monitor a driver’s heart rate, respiration and levels of brain activity continually, and give away warnings if it detects stress, exhaustion or a lack of concentration. Importantly, these warnings won’t be screeching alarms but more subtle alerts.

Mind Sense will include brainwave sensors adjusted into the steering wheel of the Jaguar XJ sedan. The same type of sensors are used by NASA for their spacecraft. But, this one have been modified for a car. The human brain continually creates at least four distinct waves. The sensors continuously monitor the dominance level of each brainwave and, using an algorithm in the car’s onboard computer, decipher whether the driver is focused, distracted or perhaps even sleepy.

Even if the eyes are on the road, a lack of concentration or a daydream will mean the driver isn’t paying attention to the driving task. They may miss a warning icon or sound, or be less aware of other road users so we are looking at how we could identify this and prevent it causing an accident.

Another project called “haptic accelerator pedal” would emit a pulse or vibration to warn a driver to whether they were going over the speed limit or were approaching to hit another vehicle. The British car maker is also working on a Predictive Infotainment Screen, which tracks the driver’s hand movements and predicts the button they are going to push. As a result, drivers would be able to push a button in mid-air, without actually reaching out the button.

The company is currently working on this scheme for a Jaguar XJ sedan. There is no word yet on when it will be available in cars being sold in showrooms. Certainly, the first breed of future cars!