Soon, car steering that reads lips, facial expressions; plays drum beats

Washington, June 15 : IBM researchers are working on a steering wheel that reads lips, responds to facial expressions, and turns into a drum machine.

The researchers call this technology 'Artificial Passenger'.

According to them, the steering wheel will also be able to knock out some beats upon the movements of the driver's lips, as he/she sings some song.

They say that the technology is the latest of the efforts to create a car that keeps tabs on the drivers' gestures and physical and emotional state, reports Wired News.

A YouTube video on IBM's project shows that the researchers use two sensors in Artificial Passenger, which let a person to produce a variety of musical sounds or play along with an iPod boombox precariously perched on the dash.

A news report says that the ability to read lips and recognize gestures suggests that Artificial Passenger can control various functions like opening the windows, retracting the sunroof or making a phone call.

ANI