If you think this is a prank, check your calendar because April Fool’s already came and went without showing us anything that even comes close to this in terms of how hard it is to believe.
The guys over at Touch Titans apparently believe that having to use your hands in order to do something interactive is a little lame – kind of like those kids from the second Back to the Future movie who told Marty that using your hands to play Wild Gunman was “like a baby’s toy”.
Sure, taking something as “simple” as brain waves (which are then converted into computer code that the software is able to interpret and execute) and calling it ‘mind control’ is being a little overzealous. It’s not like you’re summoning your inner Dr Strange or Dr Fate (pick your own Comic Book universe) and the car simply bends to your will.
So, the way this works is through Touch Titans’ Emotiv Insight, which is a brain activity monitor that feeds into Tesla’s API tools, making inputs derived from brainwaves activate the features found in the American automaker’s official app.
In theory, you can get the Model S P90D (or presumably any Tesla model) to tell you about the charging progress, to heat or cool the car before you get in, to flash its lights or honk in order for you to find it, lock it, unlock it and so on – you get the picture.
However, what this video is showing us is how Touch Titans used the brain activity monitor to activate the ‘Summon’ feature, which is definitely one of the best things about Tesla cars at the moment.
The guys even gave Elon Musk a nudge on Twitter, letting him know what they’ve accomplished, but the Tesla boss has yet to reply. Of course, knowing him, he probably will, and soon.
H/T to Eletrek!