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LAS VEGAS — Nissan is prototyping a skullcap or headset that reads a driver's encephalon waves. The idea is to help the car anticipate the driver's intentions a few fractions of a 2d before the driver would actually initiate a plough, alter lanes, or step on the brakes. Nissan calls it B2V, or encephalon-to-vehicle, technology, afterwards the fashion of V2V (vehicle to vehicle) or V2I (vehicle to infrastructure). Nissan unveiled B2V, and is running demos this week at CES 2018 here to showcase its possibilities.

Despite headlines you lot read elsewhere, B2V is non self-driving technology. Nor can information technology read you thoughts — only brain waves. It is a serious attempt past Nissan to make driving safer and quite possibly more enjoyable. Information technology's part of the broader Nissan Intelligent Mobility project that includes self-driving, assisted driving, and driver assists such as blind spot detection or adaptive cruise command.

B2V Tells the Machine What You Programme Next

Dr. Lucian Gheorghe.

Dr. Lucian Gheorghe, senior innovation researcher at the Nissan Research Center in Japan, leads the B2V research. "The potential applications of the engineering science are incredible," he says. As for the enquiry, the test driver wears a device that looks like a skullcap or headset, with wiring leads coming off the dorsum. The cap measures encephalon moving ridge activity. It can option upwardly waves that repeat themselves each time the driver encounters a given situation. Information technology can both discover and predict.

Gheorghe says the organization catches signs that the driver's brain is almost to, say, printing the throttle, step on the brakes, or turn the steering wheel. Knowing what'due south coming next from the driver, the automobile could help in a subtle way — in other words, not necessarily by turning the bicycle or tromping the accelerator. Just if the driver intends to slow down, the car could ease off on the throttle to settle the suspension, or pre-charge the brakes or move the brake pads closer to the brake rotors. Or if information technology's raining, it could lightly use the brakes to dry them off. If the driver intends to change lanes, it might increment the size or brightness of the blind spot detection lights. If the car has haptic feedback, information technology could vibrate the seat or steering cycle before the driver starts the lane alter to warn of a automobile in the way. Depending on the driver, Nissan's B2V sensors and analytics tin can predict the driver's next action 0.2 to 0.5 seconds ahead of when the driver begins the action.

The organisation could also detect driver discomfort or fatigue. If the auto is autonomous or semi-autonomous, Gheorghe says, AI could "change the driving configuration or driving style."

The Nissan IMX concept automobile shares the Nissan booth with strategically placed trash cans. In a convention center with 2 one thousand thousand square feet of exhibition infinite, raindrops find their way through the roof here and there.

A Personal, Not Impersonal, Driving Future

"When most people recall nearly autonomous driving," says Nissan executive VP Daniele Schillaci, "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 to make the drive even more than heady and enjoyable."

Co-ordinate to Nissan, B2V technology could be on future Nissan vehicles. The visitor hinted it could work in the IMx concept automobile shown at CES. The IMx is an electric motorcar with autonomous driving capabilities. The interior includes a large, wraparound data brandish.