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A group of engineering students at the University of Illinois have developed an amazing wheelchair using LabVIEW. In fact, this application is so cool that Michael Callahan won the Lemelson-Illinois Student Prize, which is awarded to outstanding student inventors. This is a great example of how people are using virtual instrumentation to make significant improvements in everyday life.

From their corporate website Audeo.com:


The Audeo is being developed to create a human-computer interface for communication without the need of physical motor control or speech production. Using signal processing, unpronounced speech representing the thought of the mind can be translated from intercepted neurological signals...

... The proposed solution is a featherweight wireless device resting over the vocal cords capable of transmitting neurological information from the brain. Using data analysis, this information can be processed into synthesized speech or a menu selection capable of conveying the basic necessities of human life.


In this case, the brain's signals are being translated into commands that control a wheelchair.

To learn more about this amazing application, visit the http://www.theaudeo.com/. (less info)