Wang Nin builds brain-controlled wheelchair prototype in 48 hours

In April this year, three years after remaining paralyzed following two surgeries to remove a 13-centimeter tumor in the cervical spine, and two days before his wedding, Wang Nin and his wife assembled a prototype wheelchair that responds to brain activity in just 48 hours. The user wears an EEG kit, an algorithm decodes the patterns and translates them into movement commands. At the hackathon the chair moved only in a straight line, which was enough to win first place.

The technical background did not come from a university. Before his illness the couple ran a network of art schools for children. After the first surgery he was completely immobilized, with only his eyes moving. Without medical or engineering training he drafted a self-rehabilitation protocol from scientific papers, and within three years he walked unaided. At the same time he taught himself programming, electronics, 3D printing and machine-learning models, a toolkit that let him shift from rehabilitation to development.

Three months after the hackathon the system already knows how to maneuver. In July the updated version was presented at the WAIC conference in Shanghai. Wang Nin stresses that the goal is not a flashy demonstration but “to open a window to the outside world for people who can barely communicate”. The couple are now looking for funding to turn the prototype into a commercial product, and the next vision is a rehabilitation center that will combine electrical-stimulation suits and exoskeletons.

The story is not only about a brain-computer interface (BCI) but also about a unique feedback loop: the key user is also the first customer, and his body’s test results set the pace of iterations. With no R&D department, no massive budgets and a lifetime deadline, the system advances because there is no alternative.