TOKYO — Opening a car trunk or controlling an air conditioner could become just a wish away with Honda’s technology that connects thoughts with robotics.
Honda has a way to read patterns of electric currents on a scalp as well as changes in cerebral blood flow when a person thinks about moving the right hand or left hand, running and eating.
In a video shown Tuesday at Tokyo headquarters, a person wearing a wireless helmet sat still but thought about moving his own right hand. After several seconds, Asimo, a human-shaped robot that responds to brain signals, lifted its right arm.
“Practical uses are still way into the future,” said Honda Research Institute executive Yasuhisa Arai. But Arai didn’t rule out the possibility of a car someday drives itself — even without a steering wheel.
