Samsung has created the first Samsung Smart TV, which can be controlled by means of brain waves. This solution will allow users with reduced mobility to change channels and adjust the volume level through minimal face movements.
The prototype was developed as part of the "Pontis" project, a civic initiative of Samsung implemented in cooperation with the University of Lucerne and the Swiss Center of Paraplegia, a world-renowned rehabilitation clinic for people with complex health problems. The "Pontis" project aims to provide greater accessibility to technology for people with physical disabilities, such as quadriplegia.
Special visual patterns are displayed in each corner of the TV screen, and sensors placed on the user's head measure different types of brain waves generated as a result of this interaction with the image. The read wave patterns are then translated into commands to control the TV - change the channel or adjust the volume. The technology has been tested with various user groups to check ease of operation in practice.
- For people struggling with various limitations in everyday life, especially with quadriplegic paralysis, TV-controlled televisions can become a new window to the world - said Bart de Kimpe, therapist and head of the therapy team at the Swiss Paraplegia Center - We are positive surprised by the final result of the Pontis project and we hope for what next innovation can offer.
From June this year, the first prototype of such a TV set will be developed and optimized. The second model will be subjected to further tests in rehabilitation centers and specialist Swiss hospitals so that the technology will gain even more functionality. Thanks to this, the use of electronic devices by people with disabilities will be more intuitive and better adapted to everyday life.
