Speeding is believing: The bike with gears you can change by using your mind

The world’s first bicycle with gears you can change simply by using your mind has been unveiled by scientists

The Toyota Prius Project Parlee PXP bike has a thought-controlled gearbox that works by responding to cues from the brain – and experts believe anyone will be able to master the technique.

Human/digital interface specialist Deeplocal built the one-of-a-kind helmet, which transfers brainwaves using wireless technology to a micro-control.

All in the mind: The Toyota Prius Project Parlee PXP bike has a thought-controlled gearbox that works by responding to cues from the brain

The ‘neuron helmet’ uses electrodes to pick up neuro-electrical activity to send signals to an electronic gear shifter mounted under the bike’s seat.

Patrick Miller, creative engineer at Deeplocal said: ‘The system has been built using a simple off-the-shelf brainwave reader and software to read the signals.

‘It takes the rider a little bit of training but we’re at the stage where people are successfully changing gears with their mind while riding.

‘There is some special software to train people – while in a neutral state if you think “shift up” the helmet reads those patterns.

‘So over time signals sent to the micro control when a user thinks “shift up” or “shift down”
become recognisable.

‘It’s an experiment at the moment, but once you have control you can do a lot of things like change gear during a journey based on things like speed and distance.’

Smartphone speedometer: The device measures the cyclist’s heart rate and displays the mind-controlled manual gear-shifting

A ‘neuron helmet’ worn by the cyclist uses electrodes to pick up neuro-electrical activity to send signals to an electronic gear shifter mounted under the bike’s seat

Most of the bike – created alongside Toyota, Saatchi & Saatchi and Parlee Cycles – is made from carbon fibre shaped to be aerodynamic and integrates almost all components.

The cables on the Prius bike are routed internally and brakes are built into the forks, while the rider wears a small netbook on their back handling the brainwave reader.

Mr Miller said: ‘It could be mass produced but at the moment it’s just a prototype. As a cyclist myself I’m still used to using my hands and it’s a very different thing.

‘I had no long-term plan with the bike – just to play around and make something cool.

‘We wanted to answer the question “what if?” – how would we do this. It’s just seeing what we can do with science and technology.

‘We took some things off the shelf and made something from it. It was trial and error and we managed to make something from it.’

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