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Brain Control Headset for Gamers
gbjbaanb writes "Gamers will soon be able to interact with the virtual world using their thoughts and emotions alone.
Headsets which read neural activity are not new, but Ms Le [president of US/Australian firm Emotiv] said the Epoc was the first consumer device that can be used for gaming. 'This is the first headset that doesn't require a large net of electrodes, or a technician to calibrate or operate it and does require gel on the scalp,' she said. 'It also doesn't cost tens of thousands of dollars.'" Wait until the government can get warrantless wiretaps on the logs of those things.
I can't wait to see what some hardware hackers can do with this and a Lego Mindstorms NXT robot!
I'm personally glad to read this, as Gamera has been far too much of a free spirit wrecking havoc with his fire breath. This new era of brain control for Gamera should focus his energies far better to protect the cities of Japan.
-a.e.mossberg
Another new word of the 21st century:
brain sprain
Usage: "I sprained my brain playing HalfLife all through the weekend".
sigs are hazardous to your health
Probably could help them quiet a bit with things.
The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination
- Douglas Adams
I remember seeing these demonstrated at my college a few months back. At the time we could use them to point, and type things; but they were very slow and somewhat inaccurate.
At the time they did not have a "Backspace" method, so when you typed "O" instead of "P" you would still have to use the keyboard to delete it.
Found a YouTube video of it, but I think this one from a different company.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhR076duc8M
Look closer at the text. It looks like the device reads *facial expressions* through pointed sensors touching the skin. Yay. That sounds comfortable.
Did it say it required gel or did not. I have had multiple EEG's and the gel is not fun. It is like gel with sand in it. "This is the first headset that doesn't require a large net of electrodes, or a technician to calibrate or operate it and does require gel on the scalp," she said. "It also doesn't cost tens of thousands of dollars."
Linux is like a teepee. It has no windows, no gates, and there's an Apache inside.
This is definately a technology i'm interested in, it will be awesome for game controlling and possibly helpful for the disabled. However, I think there are some concerns which need to addressed in its application.
For example, the Half-Life 2 games send an enormous ammount of information to Valve regarding player performance and interaction.
Do you really want your emotional reactions broadcast over the internet? Aren't these pitfalls and questions inevitable with this technology?
Soon all effort will be removed from gaming what-so-ever. Think of all the precious calories we can save playing World of Warcraft with our minds! Wonder if the twitch reaction timing will mean I can finally beat a Warlock 1v1.
No one brought up the inevitable hack to enable "no-hands" surfing for pr0n.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Yeah, except a decomposing brain usually means that the owner of said brain is 100% dead. Or watching American Idol.