Gadgets, Games and Gizmos: Interface Be Gone

Posted by Karl Kapp on March 26, 2007

Interfaces, or the lack of interfaces seems to be a theme lately. I thought the posting, What Interface? provided a provocative glimpse into the future but…it was nothing compared to the concept of a helmet that reads your thoughts and then controls images on the screen to help you play video games without a controller. No joystick or controller, just put the helmut on your head and begin playing…with your mind.

Emotiv System, Inc., a company with offices in San Fransisco, CA and Sydney, Australia plans to utilize electroencephalography (EEG) technology to release a helmet containing electrodes that read brain signals. The technology will distinguish between patterns of brain activity in order to correspond with specific commands in video games. Commands are currently limited to a predetermined set of actions, but players can teach the sofware by associating repetitive thought patterns to individual commands.

Think of it, no need for even a Wii controller, simply think “jump” and your character jumps…visualize swinging a bat and you hit a home run. Think the word “Enter” or “Submit” and your information is entered into the database. You can now control software with your mind (instead of software controlling you.)

Read Project Epoc Brings Mind Control to Games to learn more or see the photos at Cnet news.

This takes user interfaces to a whole new level.

Thanks to my student Brian Seely for pointing this out when he did his Wall Street Journal Review assignment for class.
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Posted in: Gadgets, Games