Measuring Brainwaves to Map the Stress Level of Bike Routes

Alex Davies writes about the MindRider Map, "which is created by deploying cyclists wearing a helmet that measures their brainwaves." The resulting map provides information on "like which route would be the most relaxing, and which the most demanding of your attention."

MindRider is the work of Arlene Ducao, who developed the technology behind the idea while a graduate student at MIT.

"The setup is simple: An off-the-shelf EEG brainwave sensor made by NeuroSky is built into a standard helmet. To make the map, eight riders spent September and October riding most of Manhattan (favoring north-south thoroughfares over east-west cross streets). Every second, the EEG sensor sends, via Bluetooth, data on the rider’s level of focus. Attention level rises when the user focuses on one thing (say, a car about to swerve into the bike lane), and decreases when they’re less focused."

The article goes on to detail some of the caveats related to the data collected conducted so far—like skewed perspectives generated by a limited pool of riders and the limitations of the off-the-shelf EEG sensor. But the potential of this kind of information, and this kind of research, is also tremendous for informing planners looking to improve bike infrastructure as well as bikers planner for the least stressful route.