Document Actions
Portuguese researchers create wheelchair that can read minds
A researcher at the University of Minho is coordinating a national robotics project where the aim is to develop a wheelchair that can be controlled by head and body movements, voice commands, facial expressions and even thoughts.
In a press release by the University of Minho, it is stated that the technology has already been tested with patients suffering from cerebral palsy and was capable of avoiding obstacles, planning tasks and communicating with other devices.
"The main idea behind it was creating an intelligent low-cost ergonomic wheelchair that could be controlled by a flexible multimodal interface”, explains Luís Paulo Reis, from the School of Engineering of the University of Minho.
The user can choose from several commands and combine them. The options available “are voice commands, head movements or the brain computer interface, which will make it possible for the chair to be moved through thoughts”, the researcher added.
Other than the universities of Minho, Porto and Aveiro, the IntellWheels is also supported by the Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science Laboratory, by the Algoritmi Centre at UMinho, by INESC TEC, by the Institute of Electronics and Telematics Engineering of Aveiro, by the School of Health Technology in Porto and by the Cerebral Palsy Association in Porto.
This project has already been awarded five times by national and international entities.
Forgot your password?
