In doing some research for mind control applications and software, I found it very difficult to find much in the way of useful information. Most searches led to the actual name of a company but had nothing to do with using technology that turns brain waves into action to perform tasks or play games.
In fact, any sort of mind control search leads to what you would expect- mind control from the searches I did. Most of it has to do with controlling someone else’s mind for a specific purpose.
Studies of the human mind have continued to accelerate. In fact, according to Hans Morvec, principal research scientist at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, the human brain’s probable processing power is around 100 teraflops, roughly 100 trillion calculations per second.
I find it interesting that there is so little out there on the Internet with regard to this technology. There are only a few resources and they all point back to Emotiv, Jedi Mind’s partner in gaming.
What is behind this technology is a BCI – a brain/computer interface. Emotiv claims to have already mastered harnessing the power of thought control through the EPOC headset. The headset detects and processes brain activity in real time. This “activity” is actually changes that occur in the brain by the firing of the neurons.
While there are obviously many applications for the technology, the gamers are certainly one of the groups that are really very excited about it. One thing we know about today’s world is what seems impossible now will be reality within 5 years.
In an article on CNN/Technology by Mike Steere, titled “The future of gaming is all in the mind”, President and co-founder of Emotiv Systems, Tan Le, said the brain-to-computer interface was undoubtedly the future for video games.
Le said “In the long run, the user’s interactions with machines will more closely mimic our interactions with other humans. Our technology will ultimately bring communities of people closer together to richly share their experiences. The one thing that we believe will be core to the future of gaming is the social experience. Nothing a game developer can program can match the random nature of actually participating in a scenario with other live people.”
Le said the social aspect was the key to growth of the industry, as it was opening the door to fresh markets. He acknowledged the new level of immersion offered with the Wii’s interactive control had helped send the industry in the right direction.
University of Ulster video gaming lecturer Darryl Charles is a skeptic of Emotiv’s technology according to the CNN article. But he did say “The big blockbuster game is going to compete more with Hollywood movies. They will be a lot more competitive in storylines… there is a lot of production values already coming from cinema.”
Personally, I can’t help but to think that the market for all of the movies which come out of Hollywood (most of them suck anyhow) would be severely threatened by gaming or role play technology that does not require a joystick or other device to play. Time will tell.
In another article in the USA Today titled “Let video games read your mind with headset” written by Marco R. della Cava, while the usual background on the Emotiv headset was filled in, the statement I found most interesting was: Even the player’s emotional state is under surveillance; EPOC is capable of ratcheting up the difficulty level if it detects the brain-wave equivalent of boredom.
A test run reveals the EPOC headset can be difficult to learn but mesmerizing once mastered. To think “vanish” and watch a cube disappear borders on unnerving. “Telekinesis has always been one of mankind’s fantasies,” President and co-founder of Emotiv Systems, Tan Le says. “After Star Wars came out, I wanted to use the Force to make my cereal box float into my hands.”
While Emotiv is concentrating on the gaming market, it is easy to see how many applications (good and bad) this technology could have. Health care certainly comes to mind. A demonstration of the uses with a wheelchair is on Emotiv’s web site.
I was also amazed at the amount of video available on YouTube on Emotiv and their technology.
Jedi Mind is positioning their company to take advantage of the Emotiv technology. Time will tell if they are able to pull it off. If they do, it could be a big winner. As the technology and software improve, one can’t help to think that there is a bright future for new technologies such as this.
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