Everyday commuting can be a painful experience for some while being a pleasant experience for others. However, what is similar in all cases is that how you feel about your commute is going to affect your after-commute activities. Say, if you took a route to office and the journey was stressful, you will not be as productive as you might have been if the commute was relaxing. In order to help bikers plan their commute ahead in a way that exposes them to least stress, MIT’s Media Lab has come up with a gadget which is being called MindRider; a mind reading helmet for the bikers to use.
The key idea over here is to monitor your brain and to identify the parts of your route that are either relaxing or stressful. The gadget will be mapping and tracking your movements whether you are on a skateboard, rollerblades, bicycle or anything else. The gadget will then map this information on the route that you took and creates a map, which highlights the areas where you may have ran into stressing situation and also pinpoints the locations where you were relaxed during your commute. The aim behind this device is to put up the mind maps together and come up with a route, which gives you minimal exposure to stressful situations and find a relaxing route for your daily commute.
The MindRider employs the use of a sensor that is located in its foam, inside the helmet. The sensor makes of electroencephalography (EEG) to record your brain waves which are then color coded in either green or red. Red implies a situation which is increasing stress whereas; green color implies a calm and cool mind state.
The helmet is connected to phone app via Bluetooth. This allows the user to study the map data generated by the gadget and identify the spots on your commute that can be improved upon. Check out the video demonstration below for more details:
