First off, let me say I've always wanted to make things move with my mind--at least, some small amount of levitation, like, say, lifting a car through the air like Yoda lifted Luke Skywalker's X-Wing. "Star Wars" has played no small part in that fantasy. Oh, wait, did I say fantasy?
Mattel is releasing a toy this holiday that actually lets people raise and lower things with their mind. Well, make that one thing: a blue foam ball.
Obviously, when Mattel reps called CNET asking for a meeting, we quickly ushered them in. We'd heard about this product at CES and in other applications in the past, including the Swedish Mindball (no, we're not making that up). But Mattel's desire to bring this to the masses is admirable, and as we were soon to find out, bizarre. Look above to see the somewhat embarrassing video if you have any doubts.
Like something dropped in out of a late-'70s science fiction movie, Mindflex comes in two parts: a stark white-and-blue plastic obstacle course for a series of small foam balls, and a strange wireless headset/headband. The parts were unloaded from a shopping bag here at our CNET Labs, and quickly assembled. The obstacle course looks almost like a future version of the old kinetic board game, Mouse Trap. Except, as we said, this one's mind-controlled.
Scott Stein: ready for mind control!
(Credit: Joseph Kaminski/CNET)Mattel's representatives showed how Mindflex worked with a demonstration before throwing me into amateur mind control, raising and lowering the blue ball through a series of plastic hoops and tunnels.
Mindflex announces the start of challenges (with a straight-from-Epcot robotic female voice), and then players can register their successful moves by pressing buttons on the front of the machine. A large knob turns the motorized fan around the circular track, carrying the ball around the mini-course.
The brain control part comes in when raising and lowering the ball (activating and deactivating the fan), which is all triggered via what the headset is reading from my little brain. To be specific, the control is done digitally: the headband senses concentration and relaxation, and raises and lowers the ball accordingly. Then, it was my turn.
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(Credit:
T3)
Ever imagine having abilities like Professor X from the X-Men? Some envision at a day when a mind-control device will come one the market, and it'll take the shape of a Nintendo Wii console.
T3 believes that in a future iteration there will be a Wii headset which will use our brainwaves to control our onscreen characters. It would also feature an immersive in-ear headphone for the sound effects, and the Wiimote would be updated to having only one button to point and press.
Gaming via brainwave activity isn't a new or novel idea; Singapore Science Center organized a Mindball game demo a few years back, as have others. So the idea of a Wii headset that uses brainwaves isn't as farfetched as it might sound.
Of course, if this follows through, then the whole point of exercising and working the accelerometer would come to naught in the near future.
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
IMEC)
With all the development of alternative energy today, it was bound to come to this: Introducing solar-powered brainwaves.
Well, not exactly. But this "electroencephalogram device" does use sunlight as well as body heat as a power source for a variety of functions, which researchers hope will include everything from playing video games to monitoring hospital patients, according to Dvice. The lightweight headset, developed by Belgian scientists at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center, tracks electrical impulses generated by thought or action.
There are many other systems in development to monitor brainwaves in a similar fashion, but this one is focused on portability because no one, especially gamers, wants to be tied down while exercising their telepathic rights. New Scientist says an earlier prototype relied on natural heat from the head alone but sometimes ran out of power--which could be unfortunate on any number of levels, not to mention embarrassing. But no matter what, it's got to be an improvement over stationary gaming headgear we've seen.
You've been thinking, "Hey, where are all the updates on mind-reading devices?" All the appropriate scientists already knew this, so they decided to give you what you want today.
(Credit:
New Scientist)
Here's this week's mind-readers' digest.
- Microsoft applies for mind-reading patent: According to this New Scientist blog post, Microsoft applied for a patent in August that would help the company figure out what people really think about its products. The technology in the patent application, titled "Using electroencephalograph signals for task classification and activity recognition," would read a user's brain states while testing Microsoft's interfaces. This would determine the effectiveness of each test UI and eliminate the possibility of test users telling Microsoft what Microsoft wants to hear. No, this technology is not included in Windows Vista SP1. Yes, you would have to volunteer to have your brain waves recorded. And hey, stop thinking about Bill Gates in a Speedo. [Via Boing Boing.]
- Brain-computer interface helps man cope with ALS: According to this DelawareOnline feature article, University of Pennsylvania professor Scott Mackler, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) nine years ago, is using a unique system that helps him communicate with people and technology. Mackler wears a cap fitted with 16 electrodes that relay his brainwaves to software that identifies what he is focusing on, helps him perform lectures, and creates written documents. The software is also configured to interact with his TV remote, which lets him trick his wife by changing the channel from girly movies to SportsCenter. More power to you, Scott. Keep fighting the good fight. [Via Delaware Online.]
- Control 'Second Life' with your mind: Just in case Second Life isn't enough like your real life, the Biomedical Engineering Laboratory at Japan's Keio University have created a brainwave-reading interface that lets users move avatars around with their minds. According to ScienceBlogs, the headset/computer system pinpoints brain activity in the motor cortex and makes on-screen characters move around accordingly. Apparently, all a player has to do is imagine the avatar performing a movement and it actually happens. There's even a YouTube clip of the system in action. [Via ScienceBlogs.]
- Can brainwaves identify child molesters preemptively? Whenever news of a new touch-screen interface hits the Web, a thousand Minority Report references are close behind. But this story is more Minority Report than all those screens combined. According to this BBC News story, a team of Yale University researchers have discovered a pattern in the way pedophiles' brain activity responds to adult pornographic images. In comparison to other patients in the test group, patients with pedophilic tendencies showed lower hypothalamus activity when they looked at adult pornography. Don't apply for the thought police just yet; rather than using these brain-activity patterns as a way to identify potential child molesters, lead researcher Dr. Georg Northoff says it is a key step in finding new and effective means of therapy for those with pedophilic thoughts. [Via BBC News.]
(Credit:
A/V Stim)
We can just hear the Enya track now.
Stress relievers--or, more accurate, products that claim to relieve stress--are nothing new, of course, but that doesn't seem to deter a steady stream of them from coming onto the market seemingly every few days. The latest goes by the sci-fi-sounding name "MindSpa," which we appropriately saw on SCI FI Tech.
Like so many other so-called stress busters, this one uses a combination of calming lights and other New Agey stuff to lull us into a state of relaxation. According to its Web site, "The frequencies of light and sound in our eight Progressive Relaxation Programs (TM) assist the mind into entering slower, deeper brainwave states." Got it.
We'd like to keep an open mind about this kind of thing. Really, we would. But we can't get past SCI FI's trenchant observation: The price alone--$250--would likely prevent us from ever obtaining a state of full nirvana.
(Credit:
Emotiv Systems)
It may look like a medieval torture device, but the headgear pictured here is designed for gaming, of all things. And if you're paranoid about EMFs eating away at your brain, avert your eyes from this item now.
Called "Project Epoc," this neuro-technology apparatus includes "sensors that tune into your brain's natural electric signals, detecting player thoughts, feelings and expression," according to Ubergizmo. It also connects to consoles and computers, supposedly allowing your thought pulses to influence if not control the game at hand. (We're not making this up.)
But if you're really this hard-core, you should probably be looking at this monster helmet. At least you can't forget to take it off before leaving the house.
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