Studying brain signals used in driving to improve safety

Scientists at a Swiss university are working with car manufacturer Nissan to find out if they could use brain signals to improve car safety.

The idea is that a computer on-board the car could detect a driver's intentions split seconds before they act by reading their brain signals. The computer could then opt to intervene or assist the driver, depending on external detection of other cars and objects around the car.

Work on the project has just begun in earnest, with the researchers testing the concept by monitoring the brain signals of people using a driving simulator.

Lucian Gheorghe, a visiting researcher from Nissan at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, explains what the researchers are trying to achieve.