Brain Age's Kawashima Wants To Build Cars For Old Folks
Professor Ryuta Kawashima developed Brain Age for Nintendo because he believes that doing simple puzzles and exercises can stimulate the brain and keep it young. I know I worked as hard as possible to make my brain age as low as possible. But what happens when you get old and your brain isn't quite so active anymore? Well, lots of things become more difficult, including driving.
Kawashima is working with Toyota to develop cars that could help seniors drive safely. Possible technologies include a car that could determine a driver's patterns and curb dangerous activity, such as sensing when the driver is hitting the gas pedal for no reason. Or a navigation system or temperature controls that keep the driver alert.
"We envision future cars will be able to monitor brain and emotional activity to back up elderly drivers," said Kawashima. "Ultimately, we hope to develop cars that stimulate brain activity, so that driving itself becomes a form of brain training."
I should think that keeping your eyes on the road and the speedometer constant while not hitting anything around you would be stimulating enough. At any age! I don't even like seeing people talking on their cell phones while driving. The whole thing just sounds like a whole lot of nonsense to me. But maybe one day we can have a whole bunch of people driving around shouting "Black. Yellow. Blue. No, I said blue! Blue!"
Toyota To Develop Cars For Seniors [The Associated Press]
