McLaren have signed a deal that will see them partner up with a brain technology company to monitor the neurological signals of certain employees.
McLaren announced on Wednesday that they have signed a long-term deal with Mindmaze, starting from this weekend’s United States Grand Prix. MindMaze is a ‘billion-dollar, brain technology company that builds intuitive human-machine interfaces through its breakthrough neuro-inspired computing platform’ and their first products in healthcare help patients with post-stroke disabilities and brain injuries.
McLaren say that, together with MindMaze, they will be working to develop a product called ‘MindDrive’, which they say are unique sensors that ‘collect and transmit key cognitive driver responses to a trackside medical team on a real-time basis’. In other words, a driver’s state of consciousness and cognition can be monitored in real-time.
This technology has already been tested by McLaren’s IndyCar team during their Indy 500 campaign earlier this year.
The technology is due to be rolled out in a Formula 1 test environment to start off, with McLaren also going to looking into using sensors amongst the drivers and certain team members in a bid to improve efficiency. They say they will ‘capture, analyse and transmit’ key neural signatures from people with these sensors, initially using them during simulator and test sessions.
From this weekend, MindMaze logos will be on the MCL34, as well as both driver’s helmets and racesuits.
“We are delighted to announce MindMaze as a Formula 1 technology partner.” said McLaren CEO Zak Brown. “This partnership and MindMaze’s innovative approach to neuroscience has the potential to not only give us a deeper understanding of driver andteam performance, and therefore a competitive edge, but help lay the foundations for wider applications in the real world.”
Earlier this week, MindMaze also signed a deal with Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo for the Australian to become their brand ambassador. He will work with them to help with development of brain technology for driver performance tracking and emergency medical response to serious brain injuries.
“The reality is that we are never too far away from danger in motorsports,” said Ricciardo. “With MindMaze’s monitoring technology, race teams and medics will be able to better understand driver conditions in real-time. It is also exciting to think this technology can help track and optimise driver performance.”
