Design Challenge
Develop wearable solutions to monitor health and safety for two specific user groups. Also, to highlight some blue sky concepts for noninvasive Brain Computer Interface's. I look beyond the current need for invasive neuroprosthetics and bulky control units of biofeedback systems, like the P300 for example. The goal was to investigate a user group that has not been considered a viable target for this technology. As a constraint, I have assumed that the designs would require a number of EEG monitoring sites on the scalp. The idea that alertness to stimuli can be measured is laid out out in Birbaumer's "Breaking the silence: BCI's for communication and motor control." Therefore, I use alertness as an indicator of safety and well-being in specific scenarios.
.
.
Product Design Solution
With current technology a firefighter's location and heart rate could be monitored at a control center, but with the speed at which situations get out of control in this scenario, a system that could predict the threat of injury to the wearer would be much more appropriate. On top of monitoring the users alertness, external sensors would be required to monitor the environment.
With the driver alertness monitor the current solution uses an earpiece that sounds an alarm if the driver nods off to sleep. The BCI system could help the driver keep their eyes on the road and signal when the correct time to take a break is. With massive innovation in monitoring brain signals it would become possible to also control car radios and heating by simply thinking about them. This thought experiment may not come to fruition as driveless cars become more widely used.
