[Jump]

Here is an interesting article I found over at Sci-Tech Today. I can just see the future reports on the increase in headaches. Pass the Exedrin and game on.

Will joysticks soon be a thing of the past? If one company succeeds in its ambitious plans, you might soon be able to play "World of Warcraft" or "Flight Simulator" simply by thinking. Emotiv Systems, a newly formed company specializing in brain-computer interface technology, announced this week at the Game Developers Conference that it is releasing its Emotiv Development Kit (EDK).

According to the company's accompanying press release, the EDK will enable game developers "to create games that respond to a player's emotions and allow players to control their characters' expressions and manipulate objects using only the power of their brain."

The company, which has been in soft mode since its founding in 2003, is the brain-child of technology entrepreneurs Tan Le and Nam Do, chip designer Neil Weste, and Professor Allan Snyder, a specialist in neuroscience and a winner of the 2001 Marconi Prize for his ground-breaking description of how light travels along optical fibers.

Tan Le, President of Emotiv Systems, credited Professor Snyder with providing the impetus to launch the company. "In the latter part of his career," Le said, "Allan's been conducting ground-breaking research in the processing capabilities of autistic savants. His work demonstrated the ability to access the nonconscious processing capabilities of the brain in each individual. Our goal is to build on that and realize the future of man-machine interaction."

I Think I Can, I Think I Can!

At the heart of the EDK is a headset, currently code-named Project Epoc, with multiple sensors that fit snugly around the user's head. The headset is equipped with noninvasive sensors (no drilled holes!) that read the electrical activity of the brain's neurons through a process known as electroencephalography (EEG).

Emotiv claims that it is able to link specific patterns of brain activity to both conscious thoughts ("go left") and subconscious emotions ("YIKES!"). "The real breakthrough," Le said, "is the understanding that the patterns of EEG signals associated with thoughts and emotions are unique to each individual."

A specific thought, she explained, might occur in the same region of the brain across the entire population. But because each person's cerebral cortex is folded differently, by the time the specific EEG signal filters through the brain and reaches the sensors on the user's head, the pattern is unique to that individual.

The pattern information gathered by the headset is sent over a wireless Relevant Products/Services connection to the user's computer, where it can then be used to govern game play and other actions on the user's computer.

You can read the rest of the article at Sci-Tech Today

[Badcharma]

Holy crap.

You mean that guy selling tin-foil hats on the corner was actually right?

[spork]

Link.

Aliens told me that tin foil actually acts as an antanna, extending their mind control range.

[Badcharma]

Oh my god we're doomed.

[Vinxent]

...i dont care what they say

LONG LIVE TO JOYSTICKS!!!

[Nohbody]

The cynic in me wonders how long after that becomes common (if it does, but let's assume so for the sake of argument) that some marketroid somewhere is going to come up with the idea of using it for "targeted" marketing. Want to know what ads to show in that ad-bloated game? Just read the person's mind, and see what fits.

(The "bad guy government" thing is too obvious. I won't insult y'all's intelligence by bringing up that old clunker. )

[netburnr]

That is awesome. I knew monkeys could do it, but it looks like we are closer to real Virtual Reality type gaming.

What do you think, 10 more years?

(sorry for bring up an old thread, GG pointed it out to me in another one)

[Jonboy]

Originally Posted by Jump

"to create games that respond to a player's emotions and allow players to control their characters' expressions and manipulate objects using only the power of their brain."

I hate you to death

[GrimGriz]

Can you imagine the calibration on that thing. "Please think left." "please think right." "Be startled by the following images"

[Hornet]

I think its going to be a looong time before anything like that becomes reliable enough for public products. But, cool to think about...hah hah, get it?

[Jump]

We didn't bump an 8 month old thread did we?

[netburnr]

Originally Posted by netburnrol

That is awesome. I knew monkeys could do it, but it looks like we are closer to real Virtual Reality type gaming.

What do you think, 10 more years?

(sorry for bring up an old thread, GG pointed it out to me in another one)

Originally Posted by Jump

We didn't bump an 8 month old thread did we?

My bad