A mind-reading helmet could create a generation of safer drivers by helping them improve their focus.
The helmet, developed by Ford, measures a driver’s brainwaves to monitor mental energy and focus at different points on the road.
The system is being used to study ordinary drivers and see where improvements can be made in their focus and technique.
It is also helping reveal the secrets to how professional drivers stay ‘in the zone’ while driving at fast speeds and over long distances.
Early results suggest techniques used by pro-drivers – such as breathing meditation and visualisation – affect the brain’s performance. Researchers say similar techniques should be used by ordinary drivers to improve their focus.
A mind-reading helmet could create a generation of safer drivers by helping them improve their focus. The helmet, developed by Ford, measures a driver’s brainwaves to monitor mental energy and focus at different points on the road
Ford Performance – the motor sport branch of the car company – worked alongside researchers from Kings College London and tech company UNIT9 to create the device.
Together, they modified a FIA approved helmet to contain an EEG (electroencephalography) headset – a device that reads the brain’s electrical activity.
‘Using EEG, we could make a mental map of the track, and measure the mental energy that the driver is dedicating to the task,’ Yates Buckley, technical director at UNIT9 told Engadget.
Researchers first monitored racing drivers, including World Touring Car winner Andy Priaulx and World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier.
Both use mental training techniques to improve their race times.
For instance, Mr Priaulx uses the Silva method of meditation before every race.
This method brings the mind into a sense of relaxation where the right hemisphere in the brain is in ‘Alpha state’.
Researchers monitored racing drivers, including World Touring Car winner Andy Priaulx (left) and World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier (right) who both use mental training techniques to improve their race times
MEDITATION TECHNIQUES IN RACING
Andy Priaulx was one of the professional racing drivers that Ford used in their study.
In his 20-year career he won the World Touring Car championship for three consecutive years between 2005 and 2007 after adopting a mental training regime.
Mr Priaulx uses the Silva method of meditation before every race.
This method brings the mind into a sense of relaxation where the right hemisphere in the brain is in ‘Alpha state’.
Andy Priaulx (pictured) was one of the professional racing drivers that Ford used in their study. In his 20-year career he won the World Touring Car championship for three consecutive years between 2005 and 2007 after adopting a mental training regime.
Alpha state is where the brainwave frequency is between seven and 12 Hz.
To achieve this state as a beginner follow these initial steps:
- For ten days count backward from 100 to 1 at a 2 seconds pace.
- For the next ten days count backward from 50 to 1 at the same pace.
- For the following ten days count backward from 25 to 1.
- For the next ten days count from 10 to 1.
- For the last ten days count from 5 to 1.
While you count backward you have to look, behind your closed eyelids, slightly above and this should take no longer than fifteen minutes.
Nico Rosberg was the 2016 Formula 1 world champion after finishing second behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton for two straight years.
He retired after winning the world championship and claimed that the key to finally winning the title lay in the changes he had made to improve his mental toughness.
The German champion enlisted the help of a Japanese zen master to teach him the art of meditation which focuses around staying in the moment, relaxing all the muscles and turning off the mind.
Some fundamentals include relaxing the head, focusing on breathing and finding a comfortable position for two minutes.
During the 2016 season, Mr Rosberg clams he practised mindfulness training techniques twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, every day.
But the latest study also included members of the public to see whether their performances might also be boosted using breathing and visualisation techniques.
Data from pro-racing drivers was compared to the brain activity of regular people to see if their mental techniques worked.
The study found that racecar drivers are up to 40 per cent better than the average person when it comes to ignoring distractions.
When using the specially designed visualisation and mental training techniques, ordinary drivers improved their focus levels by nearly 50 per cent.
The cutting-edge helmet measured brainwaves from pro racing drivers and the results were compared to the brain activity of regular people. It found that racecar drivers are up to 40 per cent better than the average person when it comes to ignoring distractions
In theory, the modified EEG-containing helmets could transmit live data back to a support team during a race and could signal the start of a new era in motorsport with mental monitoring becoming commonplace
In theory, the modified EEG-containing helmets could transmit live data back to a support team during a race.
It could also be used by ordinary members of the public to improve their driving skills and monitor how breathing and meditation techniques improve their performance.
‘We are living in a complex society where we cannot easily just take a break, so a mental training technique can open up a way for us to keep healthy in an efficient way,’ says Mr Buckley.
The study put participants through several tests, including virtual reality challenges as well as a driving simulator to gather information about the mental processes of professional drivers compared to regular people