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Arduino Assisted Mind-Controlled Television

andylim writes "Dcept905, aka Paul, has interfaced an EEG headset and an Arduino with an IR LED to control his television set with thought alone. 'I have finally gotten around to re-writing some of my old code and re-recording a proper demo of controlling physical objects using thoughts by interfacing an EEG headset with an Arduino. While this technology is interesting and exciting, before anyone sees this as an endorsement for this particular EEG headset, I strongly recommend reading my full review of the device.'"

47 comments

  1. The (d)evolution of humanity? by CRCulver · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In one of his short stories collected in Tales of Known Space , Larry Niven introduced an alien species that had developed the power to attract prey towards it telepathically. Consequently, these aliens no longer had a need to move around to sustain itself, and evolved into a sessile species that just sat there like a rock. At a time when health experts complain that young people are becoming too sedentary, is the potential of mind-controlled technology really that good a thing?

    1. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      must...reach... for soda.

    2. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >At a time when health experts complain that young people are becoming too sedentary, is the potential of mind-controlled technology really that good a thing?

      Yes. A greater understanding and capability is always welcome.

    3. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We'll have to develop psychokinesis next. Then we won't need to have children just to get us a beer during the game.

    4. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by u4ya · · Score: 1

      it sure beats using our own legs and arms like a sucker

    5. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Perhaps not for an able-bodied person who is using the tech. to be lazy. On the other hand, someone who is paralyzed from the neck down and could control his wheelchair by interfacing this headset to its control circuitry might have a different opinion on the matter.

    6. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2, Funny
      must...reach... for soda.

      These aren't the sodas you're looking for.
      Move along... move along.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    7. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by shentino · · Score: 2, Funny

      To hell with sedentary, I'm more worried about this sort of tech getting into the hands of the thought police.

    8. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by Jerrei · · Score: 1

      It will have the same effect cars did on walking a dog

    9. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At a time when health experts complain that young people are becoming too sedentary, is the potential of mind-controlled technology really that good a thing?

      Sure, the health freaks (let's call them Jedi) will eventually be the only ones who will be able physically get the mind-control technology and restore the balance to the world (albeit by moving the "masses" around).

      <WAVE HAND>You want to go home and rethink your life</WAVE>

      I'd be more happy if it could work on my 1-year old and convince her not to play the same song on their toys over and over and over and over and ...

      I think I just found a project for my seeeduino ...

    10. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      Yes, we must stop working on cars and wheelchairs immediately.

    11. Re:The (d)evolution of humanity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think you can consider there to be a step backwards in any evolutionary transition, it's all about tending toward the conditions of survival. If humans started to live in space for very long periods of time our bodies would likely become more atrophied. That's not a backwards step, it's a forward step to surviving better in new conditions, for what good is having large muscles in space, where objects have no weight?

  2. Interesting to see.. by joocemann · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... that we can now control the TV with our minds after decades of it going the other way.

    1. Re:Interesting to see.. by jrumney · · Score: 2, Funny

      How long before the feedback loop fries his brain?

    2. Re:Interesting to see.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We will control the vertical...

    3. Re:Interesting to see.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This should have gotten +5 insightful not +5 funny.

      Sad but true. I know but a few people who decide things for them self or can even form an opinion rather than getting it from TV or the Internet.

    4. Re:Interesting to see.. by sam0737 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hey! Why would you ever turn on TV, change channels and volume?
      The TV mind-controls you to control it. Give you the illusion of you are controlling it and everything, but we all know it's a trap!!

    5. Re:Interesting to see.. by ls671 · · Score: 1

      > This should have gotten +5 insightful not +5 funny.

      Actually, it seems like it got +2 funny +1 insightful.

      There is still room for another moderation point since it only shows +5 on this thread because it has a +1 karma bonus point.

      So, I suggest that you tell a friend of yours to mod an additional +1 insightful point to it and then you can be happy. The way the system works, it would now show +5 insightful. ;-)))))

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    6. Re:Interesting to see.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I fail to see why do I need an arduino to keep the thing switched off.

      (that was a joke but in reality I don't own a TV set; this hack is of no application to me)

    7. Re:Interesting to see.. by dominious · · Score: 1

      In soviet Russia YOU control the TV!

      Now that doesn't make any sense...

    8. Re:Interesting to see.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      .. I don't own a TV set; this hack is of no application to me)

      How about thinking outside of the box? Although I do own a TV set, the first thought I had was about controlling my music playlist. I already use the TV remote and an infra-red receiver on the PC to pause and skip songs on the playlist when I am away from keyboard. Now I could do it with my mind.

  3. Mentat Television by Dachannien · · Score: 3, Funny

    It is by will alone I set my TV in motion.

  4. That's great... by matunos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... for paraplegics, but I think I'll stick with my current thought-controlled interface: hands.

  5. This will be horrible. by reverendbeer · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    If this technology becomes commercially viable, it will result in hundreds of thousands of divorces because if the husband has control of the TV, it will either automatically go to A. girl-on-girl porn, B. male/female porn, or C. Male-on-male porn. Of course, such observations by the partner could lead to possible IRL A, B, or C; as such, this technology must be pursued to the fullest. ((As options D and E, the gangbang and trannies, could arguably fall under any of the other categories, they are therefore not listed as choices. ))

  6. Obligatory by riker1384 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    In Soviet Russia, television controls mind. In America, mind controls television!

  7. I'll admit it..... by tpstigers · · Score: 1

    When I saw that scene in the X-Men where the kid changes the channels by blinking, I decided I wanted to have that power. Now if they'd only devise a way I could get a beer using only my mind (I've tried The Force, but it doesn't seem to be working for me).

    1. Re:I'll admit it..... by Sulphur · · Score: 1

      I saw a set of glasses that used IR to track which way the eye was looking. It produced analog voltages for L/R and U/D, and was used to teach reading. If one used a blink as a mouse click, then ...

  8. I have a problem with my TV... by harpake · · Score: 5, Funny

    It keeps changing to porn every seven seconds.

    1. Re:I have a problem with my TV... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It keeps changing to porn every seven seconds.

      You're a bit slow, son.

  9. You're doing it wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In free west you control television, in soviet russia television controls YOU!

  10. Wow... by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 2, Funny

    There goes my last 30 calories of exercise a day...

    1. Re:Wow... by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      Try blinking more.

  11. Get them involved in open source by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting
    This is an amazing story - but it is so rife with issues and lock-downs. vis: "I believe that this technology can be amazing when used in accessibility applications. Wheelchairs, robotic arms, and an array of any product you can imagine controlled by thought are the direction I had hoped to go in, but having to physically strap a laptop and monetarily strap the hardware and license costs on is disgustingly restrictive." It's now time to get Emotive to listen to the fact that they are on the verge of transforming the world. Not giving the open source community the ability to interface with their product is going to result in one of two things:

    a) A Chinese knock-off

    b) Reverse engineering

    Here's what we need to do: email the principals: Professor Allan Snyder, Neil Weste and ask them to please re-consider making their product more open. This would get all sorts of hackers involved and result in significantly increased sales. I really do not understand Emotive's marketing strategy. If you want to own a market, a mix of closed and open source software is the route to go: the Google phone is a great example: mostly open source software with the phone communications stack closed source (for obvious reasons).

    1. Re:Get them involved in open source by the_kanzure · · Score: 1

      please flood the emotiv.com forums with requests to go open source. I would also be interested in funding a knock-off. I have manufacturing space and some hackers already on it.. but in the eternal words of Moff Jerjerrod, "I need more men."

  12. Mind vs. Brain? by colinrichardday · · Score: 1

    Shouldn't that be a brain-controlled device?

  13. I read... by Der+PC · · Score: 1

    Arduino assisted mind-controlling television

    and thought "Oh crap. We're there already?"

    --
    This signature is DRM protected. By the DMCA, you are not allowed to counteract or oppose to it.
  14. could be a fake... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    how would one tell if this is real or just a tv wired to randomly cycle between porn channels

  15. Its Television by PPH · · Score: 1

    You have no mind left.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Its Television by dangitman · · Score: 1

      OK, never mind then.

      --
      ... and then they built the supercollider.
  16. Industry reaction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The "Entertainment" industry together with Advertising "industry" is claiming Billions of dollars in lost revenue and that it is illegal to control TV with mind because it should be the other way around.

  17. In Soviet Russia ... by sourcerror · · Score: 1

    In Soviet Russia television controls your mind.
    Have you had your soma pill today?

  18. Maybe TV will get interesting again.... by ibsteve2u · · Score: 1

    ...when you fall asleep with your TV control headset on and have another dream of your high school guidance councilor's disconcerting habit of wearing short dresses and no underwear...

    Although that presumes that everybody had someone like my guidance counselor; if somebody out there dreams of Mr. Garrison, I don't want to know.

    --
    Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
  19. Branding is alive and well... by KreAture · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Am I the only one seeing that the Arduino platform is just a set of dev-boards with Atmel AVR chips on them?
    Agreed, it's a nice jumpstart when you need to cobble together a test, but it isn't supposed to be the final step.

    The article should headline "Atmel AVR Assisted Mind-Controlled Television". Then credit Arduino in the text.

  20. muscles by zogger · · Score: 1

    Still useful to have good muscles in space, to overcome unexpected conditions.

    Of course, we may have smarter/better robot workers by then as well..