Video game controllers use brain waves

[CroScorpion]

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A convincing twin of Darth Vader stalks the cubicles of a Silicon Valley office, complete with black mask and light saber. But this is no Halloween costume. It's a prototype of a toy that reads brain waves.

Behind the mask is a sensor that reads the brain's electrical signals, then sends them to a receiver inside the saber, which lights up when the user is concentrating. When the mind wanders, the wand goes dark.

Engineers at NeuroSky Inc. have plans for brain-wave-reading toys that could revolutionize the way people play games. Technology from NeuroSky and other startups could even enable players to control characters with nothing but their thoughts.

The technology is similar to more sensitive, expensive equipment that athletes use to achieve peak performance. Koo Hyoung Lee, a NeuroSky co-founder from South Korea, used biofeedback to improve concentration and relaxation for members of his country's Olympic archery team.

The basis of many games is electroencephalography, or EEG, the measurement of the brain's electrical activity through electrodes. NeuroSky's sensors are the size of a thumbnail and could be put into a headset that retails for as little as $20, said CEO Stanley Yang.

Researchers at NeuroSky and other startups are also building prototypes that use electromyography, which records twitches, and electrooculography, which measures changes in the retina.

CyberLearning Technology LLC targets doctors, therapists and parents of adolescents with developmental disorders. The company sells its system for the original PlayStation, PS2 and original Xbox.

Co-founder Lindsay Greco said the budding niche is unpredictable. "Our biggest struggle is to find the target market. ... We have executives who use it to improve their memory, even their golf."

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Discuss.

[Red_91]

Not to keen on the idea like and it will probably give Jack Thompson to say that it is brainwashing people.

[chris82]

Pretty nucking futs man, although I'd rather have developments in virtual reality first.

[Spaz The Great]

This is definitely some pretty cool shit. I mean, think about it, this would just be the beginning. Imagine when this mixes with higher-end PCs of tomorrow.... The possibilities are endless, and it's going to be insane. Mix virtual reality, brain-wave-sensors, intelligent high-end robotics, and high-sensitivity cameras, and you have the end of the world as we know it.

[Pandora]

Cebit had a similar thing. You had to wear a band around your head (above your eyes) and then you could control a PC game made for that thing. It actually worked, so I guess this could actually be used for consoles or PC's by 2009.