Nissan brain-to-vehicle technology helps cars learn from drivers

Developed through the car giant’s "Intelligent Mobility" programme, the so-called Brain-to-Vehicle (B2V) technology, which will be demonstrated at this month’s CES event in Las Vegas, draws on recent advances in neuroscience and is claimed to be the first real-time brain monitoring system of its kind for automotive applications.

Consisting of a wearable device that measures brain wave activity and specially-designed algorithms for analysing this data, the technology is able both predict a driver’s actions and detect signs of discomfort, Nissan claims.

For example, by catching signs that the driver’s brain is about to initiate a movement, such as turning the steering wheel or pushing the accelerator pedal, the technology can be used to enhance and speed up the the performance of driver assistance technologies. “It will be able to tell an autonomous vehicle the driver will be steering in the next 300 miliseconds,” explained Dr. Lucian Gheorghe, senior innovation researcher at the Nissan Research Center in Japan, who is leading the B2V research. “We can use this window to enhance the execution. By synchronising the support of the AD (autonomous driving) with your own actions you will always feel that you are in control and driving perfectly,” he added.