What do cars have to do with AI brain-computer interfaces? More than you might think. 

Let’s look at Toyota, for example. I drive a speedy red Toyota CH-R, so I’m curious about why on earth Toyota would be researching brain computer interface (BCI) technology. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Toyota currently has a prototype of a BCI so that disabled customers can operate wheelchairs with their mind. Strange but true. And this has actually been happening for a while, through Toyota’s partnership with the RIKEN Institute in Japan. It’s experimental and not commercially available, but it has 95 percent accuracy for allowing patients to steer wheelchairs just by thinking.

So that’s the old news. But what about Toyota’s latest research for BCI spanning into the near future? 

That’s where things get really interesting.

Toyota has a group called Toyota AI Ventures that works with a company called Brain.space. Brain.space is an Israeli neurotechnology startup that produces a non-invasive EEG called the Brain-Sensei Headset, described as the “world’s largest brain cloud” because it stores collected brain data for its “Brain GPS” and “Large Mental Models” systems. 

Just to feed the conspiracy theorists, the Toyota-funded Brain.space also has well-documented connections to defense, healthcare, and NASA.

Okay, but what about other automakers?  

Well, there’s Nissan’s Brain-to-Vehicle project, which uses EEG to decode neural signals and predict a driver’s actions before they’re physically executed.

Then there’s Mercedes-Benz’s VISION AVTR concept car, which has a BCI headset that reads brainwaves so that drivers can select a destination, adjust the audio, and perform other tasks just by thinking about it.

We won’t even talk about the link between automakers and AI humanoid robots, such as Hyundai’s partnership with Boston Dynamics. That’s a topic for another day.

I don’t know about you, but mind-reading cars make today’s latest models feel quaint by comparison.

One step closer to an even more connected future, right?