Financial Associated Press (Shanghai, editor Zhao Hao) news, in the direction of scientific and technological development, Japan can always behave differently.
At present, global car companies are facing increasing competition in the field of autonomous driving technology, and emerging car manufacturers such as Tesla have advanced software. Japan's major car companies intend to meet the challenge with next-generation technologies based on brain science.
According to Nikkei Asia, Honda is studying brain activity to analyze mistakes drivers may make and hopes to use artificial intelligence (AI) to understand why, while Nissan is trying to use the brainwaves it receives to assist drivers in making the right decisions.
Honda
Honda demonstrated the safety technology being developed: When the driver entered the crosswalk, the prototype sounded a tone and tightened the seat belt, prompting the driver to brake as soon as possible. When the driver's gaze tracks the bicycle entering the crosswalk, the seat belt is gradually released.
Honda collects data on surrounding conditions (including the driver's line of sight) through cameras, sensors, etc., and uses AI to analyze them. If the AI concludes that the driver is not aware of the danger of approaching, it tightens its seat belt and takes other steps to warn the driver. Honda plans to make the technology standard in all commercial vehicles between 2025 and 2030.
The world has been steadily advancing the development of technology to identify hazards outside vehicles, but traffic accidents still occur every day. Hideaki Takaishi, a senior safety engineer at Honda, said the company is exploring the brain's deep responses to its goal of "nipping an accident in the bud before it approaches."
So Honda used MRI to analyze people's brain activity before the accident. The researchers say that each person's brain works differently when driving, which also causes brain activity to behave completely differently in different situations.
Honda plans to let the AI make specific responses when encountering potential dangers by thoroughly analyzing people's driving habits. The company hopes to eliminate all fatal accidents involving vehicles by 2050.
Other car companies
Other automakers are also pushing for research into brain science. Nissan Motor Co. is developing a driver assistance system that uses headphones and other devices to read the driver's brainwaves in order to control the vehicle in advance before actions like emergency braking.
Nissan said that if the system had learned that the brainwaves of the accelerator and the brakes were different, it could have avoided an accident by stepping on the wrong pedal. Similarly, if brainwaves show that the driver is feeling stressed because the distance is too small, the distance between the cars can also be automatically increased.
Toyota motor is also working with the Riken Brain Science Center to study how people's brains work while driving. German car company Mercedes-Benz is also advancing research to use the interpretation of brain waves to improve driving.
The Mitsubishi Research Institute said it expects the global "brain technology" market to grow to 5 trillion yen (about $43 billion) by 2024, an increase of 20 percent from 2020. While health and medical care will account for more than 80 percent of the market, the automotive and other sectors will form a market of nearly 1 trillion yen.