Nascar quadraplegic Sam Schmidt reaches 100mph in this tricked out Stingray

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By Matthew Griffin Future Transport 29th September 2016

The former racer and IndyCar team owner can control the Corvette using head movements and voice commands

Following a horrible wreck back in 2000, IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt was left paralyzed from the neck down and following the crash, he founded his own racing team, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Now, more than 15 years later, modifications made to his 2014 Corvette will allow him to drive on his own once again and as a result Schmidt will be the first person in the US to receive a license to drive a semi-autonomous vehicle.

The car was modified by Arrow Electronics to respond to head movement, voice commands, and breathing changes. The company has been developing the car since 2014 and worked with the Nevada DMV to clear the way for Schmidt to receive his license again.

As you can see from the video Schmidt controls the car using a custom headset and acceleration and braking are controlled by inhaling and exhaling while steering is controlled by turning his head side to side.

However, with new stem cell and graphene treatments already showing that they can reverse paralysis one day he might be able to take the wheel for real.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.