Hoobox Robotics, a robotics company based in São Paulo, Brazil, has developed the "Wheelie 7", a wheelchair controlled using facial recognition technology. Incorporating AI developed by Intel, the technology allows users to control the movements of a motorized wheelchair using just their faces. The technology is envisaged as being particularly helpful for users who cannot use their hands to control a motorized device. The tech consists of a 3D camera that records a user's facial expressions (no body sensors are required) and an on-board computer that interprets the expressions and sends commands to control the movement of the wheelchair. The company claims that their facial recognition system is so sensitive that it can differentiate ten different levels of pain, detect drowsiness, agitation, and sedation, and can even detect when a person will sneeze before the event occurs.

A new wheelchair may give people with severe mobility challenges another reason to smile about artificial intelligence--that grin might literally help them control their wheelchair. Sao Paulo, Brazil-based Hoobox Robotics has teamed up with Intel on the Wheelie 7, a kit that leverages AI to let a disabled person drive a motorized wheelchair through any of 10 facial expressions, from raising an eyebrow to sticking out one's tongue. Motorized wheelchairs these days are typically controlled with a user's hands, a joystick or via sensors attached to the body. The Wheelie learns the user's smile and other gestures automatically--there is no special training that is required. Through an app, a caregiver or family member can assign which facial expressions would be tied to which way the wheelchair moves or stops: left, right, forward, backwards.