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OCZ's Brain Mouse Hits the Store

John Roller writes "Three months to the day since Slashdot originally received word that OCZ's "brain-mouse" — the Neural Impulse Actuator was ready for shipping, the first in-depth review of the device containing pictures of the retail packaging along with several videos have arrived on the internet. Overclock3D.Net got the first look at the device, and although it's still early days, they managed to play a game of "Pong" using only brain power. The article is only part one in a month-long log of using the device, but it's extremely interesting to see what the people who have pre-ordered the device can expect from it when it arrives on their doorsteps shortly."

21 of 150 comments (clear)

  1. Hurray? by PunkOfLinux · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hurrah? O.o
    This sounds interesting, at least. I wonder if it works on linux. Seriously. Does it work as a standard HID device?

    1. Re:Hurray? by bloodninja · · Score: 3, Informative

      I wondered this myself, but the screenshots on the 3rd page make me think that it doesn't...

      They had a "calibration" option, and the application "profile" option (that has the word "joystick" on it).

      So out of the box Linux support doesn't look promising... Exactly what I was thinking. It includes a driver CD, so even if it is HID it will not be fully functional out of the box with Linux. Here's the page where you contact OCZ and let them know that we want Linux support for this thing:
      http://www.ocztechnology.com/contact/
      --
      Lock the wife and the dog in the boot of the car.
      Return one hour later.
      Who's happy to see you?
    2. Re:Hurray? by Fred_A · · Score: 3, Funny

      All the mice work fine in Linux. Something else. That's not a given. I once (before I switched to wireless rodents) plugged in a wired Microsoft mouse into my machine.

      Well, it looked like it was behaving, but no sooner had I left my seat that it had leaped in /bin and it started trying to strangle cat(1).

      Some hardware you just can't trust.

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
  2. Brain-Mouse??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're Pinky and the Brain, yes Pinky and the Brain;

    One is a genius, the other's insane;

    Two laboratory mice, their genes have been spliced;

    Before each night is done their plan will be unfurled;

    By the dawning of the sun they'll take over the world;

    Their twilight campaign is easy to explain;

    To prove their mousy worth, they'll take over the earth;

    They're Pinky, They're Pinky and the Brain Brain Brain Brain Brain Brain Brain Brain Narf.

  3. Great for non-gaming also by conlaw · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Yes, this may help someone to do better in WOW or GTA IV but I'm thinking of some brilliant people whose bodies are hampered by cerebral palsy. Their main -- or sometimes only -- method of communication is through a computer which they may have trouble using because one or both of their hands is not fully functional. One of these units could make a major difference in their lives.

    Here endeth the sermonizing.

    1. Re:Great for non-gaming also by petermgreen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That assumes that thier disorder doesn't affect thier speech too badly for speach recognition to work.

      There are people who's only means of communication is using a blink movement or similar to select words as a computer scans a grid.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  4. Re:I have to wonder by Verteiron · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If someone read my mind they'd deserve every ounce of psychological trauma they received.

    Seriously though, this device has nothing to do with mind-reading. It's not even capable of reading brainwaves like an EEG machine. It's just measuring electrical signals to muscles on your face.

    --
    End of lesson. You may press the button.
  5. Neat, but... by blindd0t · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This looks really neat, really promising, and is very exciting to see. It does make me think of a few questions though...

    • It's not uncommon to use voice-chat while gaming. How is this device affected by those muscle movements and brain activity?
    • I often eat and drink while at the PC (i.e. I was on lunch break while reading the article). How do those muscle movements affect the device?
    • Given the two points above, is there any quick and easy means of temporarily disabling the device or ignoring the input from it? For example, a hot-key would work, or some head-phones have mute buttons built onto them. Of course, I don't expect it to be perfect, but something like that could help deal with its imperfections.
    • What's the price of this thing?!
    • How long from now until Hawking can kick our asses in a FPS? =P
    1. Re:Neat, but... by zsouthboy · · Score: 3, Informative

      The Mighty Steven Hawking is *already* a fucking quake master.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MC_Hawking

  6. Re:But can it play WoW? by bloodninja · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am all for freedom from keyboard hunch Why? You certainly don't need both hands for pr0n.
    --
    Lock the wife and the dog in the boot of the car.
    Return one hour later.
    Who's happy to see you?
  7. Optimism by foobsr · · Score: 3, Informative

    From TFA: "Heading down to HQ, I knew the device would have limitations, but the little kid in me was imagining it granting me near-psychic powers. Unfortunately, after several hours of trying and still only being able to control one input, those limitations look to be greater than I thought. That being said though, I have every confidence that had I played with settings and kept the thing on my head for a few hours a day, I would learn to master more of the inputs and utilize them during gameplay. So if you are looking at buying the nia, I urge you to realize that you are buying a heavily scaled-down version of what you have envisaged." (emphasis mine)

    Hmm, given that it lasts a couple of years with continuous martial arts training to establish a process approaching a near optimum with regards to 'naturally given/wired' I/O I still believe that it is appropriate not to be optimistic indeed.

    CC.

    --
    TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
    1. Re:Optimism by raddan · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, I met a software developer for this device at a dinner recently. I, too was skeptical. He said that learning how to use the device takes quite a bit of practice-- because this is like an appendage you never knew you had-- but mainly because controlling things on-screen requires concentration. Basically the problem is this: we deal with distractions all the time; the human brain is really good at doing context switches. But when you wear this interface, those context switches (someone comes up behind you and says "Hi!") change the input to the device. You need to learn to control those state changes-- you can do it, but it takes practice. He assured me that after some practice, this becomes much easier.

      As a side note-- this would be a great tool for learning how to beat polygraph exams! "Escape from Gitmo" for PS3 coming soon! ;^)

  8. Stephen Hawking by yorkrj · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if this would do any good for Stephen Hawking and others afflicted with ALS?

  9. Head Mouse by rednip · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Sorry, but this thing doesn't read minds, it measures movement in facial muscles, particularly in the eye brows. Many may find it useful because of a medical problem, cerebral palsy victims likely would, as fine grain muscle control is needed.

    Perhaps it should be call a 'head mouse', or 'face mouse', as 'Brain Mouse' is misleading.

    --
    The force that blew the Big Bang continues to accelerate.
  10. Re:I have to wonder by Kugrian · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Stop winking at me!"

    "I'm not - I'm trying to send an email!"

    Seriously though, decades of keyboard and mouse usage have given me superhero-like fingers when compared to none computer users. Will extended use of this give me a face like a body builders chest?

  11. Re:But can it play WoW? by BillGod · · Score: 4, Funny

    CRAP.. what if you fall asleep with this thing? with my dreams who knows where the hell I will end up surfing!!!

    --
    MISSING - Sig file. 2 years old black and white and very funny. If found please email me.
  12. Re:But can it play WoW? by hords · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just imagine waking up to goatse on your screen.

  13. Inside the NIA by slifox · · Score: 4, Informative

    For those interested in whats inside the OCZ NIA, AnandTech has a product teardown available

    Anyone else have specific info on whats inside, etc? First thought that comes to me is, I want to make one myself!

    Teardown Article:
    http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=452

    Picture Gallery:
    http://www.anandtech.com/Gallery.aspx?id=123

  14. Re:I have to wonder by Lord+Ender · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's a bit like putting a thermometer next to your PC and saying, 'Today we can only tell if it is hot or cold, but someday, we may be able to read every bit on the computer using only the thermometer!'

    --
    A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
  15. I want this with a programmable interface by infolib · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This thing is probably Very Nice (if it wasn't slashdotted) but I'd want to pass the raw output to my own data analysis algorithms. Why should it just be a gaming device? I guess it can double as a sleep rythm detector, or maybe I can tune it to work with me, instead of the other way around.

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced libertarian utopia is indistinguishable from government.