Brain/Computer Gaming Interface Coming in 2008

An anonymous reader writes "Emotiv Systems today unveiled a brain/computer interface system with a helmet and software applications at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The Project Epoc system can move objects based on a gamer's thoughts, reflect facial expressions, and respond to the excitement or calm the gamer mentally exerts, the company said....While Emotiv is not yet ready to announce any partnerships, [they] did say the product will be coming to market in 2008."

Well.

[Creepy Crawler]

Ive seen studies on invasive technology on brain-digital connection, and it works the best, UNLESS it gets infected (often).

Infection in the brain is bad.

Well, how do they plan to hook up the player? Some helmet might work if the user shaves their head..

It'll probably work as well as the Phantom Console (Vaporware).

Re:Well.

[venicebeach]

What data can you gather from a helmet most likely sitting on hair? Guess what.. you dont get much at all.

Well, its EEG. EEG is a reflection of aggregate neural activity and can be recorded quite easily at the skull. Lab research on controling cursors and whatnot has been done before with EEG, but it is usually pretty crude control that one can gain even after extensive practice. As TFA says, "Anecdotally, the system seems to work best with children and others open to believing in their capability, according to Breen." In other words, the gullible tend to believe they are actually controlling things in the game.

I already have a brain-computer interface

[fredrated]

They are called my hands, and they work very well, thank you.

This will not work.

[wframe9109]

What is one of the most important factors in judging the quality of an input device?

The correlation between the users intent, and what actually happens.

If a device cannot do what the user intends at an optimal level, then it is a poor input device, and will be doomed to fail.

At this point in time, we don't have the technology to get a correlation between intent and what happens high enough to use consistently as an input device. When we do, it still will be a long way from the sort of complex controls required in the majority of modern games.

 

Not Only For Games

[Siker]

With sufficiently precise brain wave monitoring it should be possible to detect very complex patterns. At the same time the user would 'learn' how to create certain patterns, just like how any person learns how to move their arms or blink. Eventually you could make your avatar run and jump without feeling a twitch in your legs - your brain knows what patterns are needed to make your avatar take actions.

I can imagine this being useful for other things than games in the long run. This, of course, would be the more obvious Neuromancer style future where your control over the computer is almost entirely brain based. Once again, with sufficient resolution in a device like this one you could probably type at the speed you can think. You would be able to give 'voice commands' faster than you can talk. Need to view another object on your screen? Just think about it.

The ramifications would be enormous. What if people could write a book in half the time simply because they were no longer constantly distracted by their own typing? Even further into the future when there is some kind of feedback device, maybe you would be able to 'feel' your way around data, rapidly moving through it at the speed of your thoughts. Perhaps you would ultimately be able to search faster and better than Google.

Medical Applications Barely Mentioned

[CorporalKlinger]

The "wow" factor for the use of this technology by healthy people to play video games can't be denied (if, in fact, the device works as it says it does). My huge question about this, though, is why if the technology is so good, it hasn't been implemented to help people with neurological abnormalities better control the world around them. I'm sure many a quadriplegic would be ecstatic about the opportunity to control their wheelchair or utilize a mechanical arm to help feed themselves using a helmet and the "power of thought." Instead, it seems like the first application being touted is for video game control? That doesn't make much sense to me - I would think the medical market would be where the money is at AND the population most likely to adopt such a new technology without it having to be 100% accurate all the time.

It makes me wonder if this is just a lot of hot air to get a company's name thrown around in places like Slashdot. Yay! Control video games with your brain! Then why is it researchers at the National Institutes of Health as recently as two years ago still couldn't get a similar technology to work with a level of accuracy greater than that of random chance just to tell whether a person was going to move their right or left arm before the motion actually took place? Oh, and those analyses were done with EEG, which involves the use of a skullcap with 30+ electrical leads stuck directly to a person's scalp with a special electro-conductive gel. I'm sure if that's required to make this "helmet" work, it probably won't go over too well since setting up a clinical EEG skullcap takes upwards of 10 minutes and can be rather painful, depending on how much hair a person has.

Re:Well.

[StikyPad]

EEG is a reflection of aggregate neural activity and can be recorded quite easily at the skull...the system seems to work best with children and others open to believing in their capability

I guess you could say it works better with an "open mind."

Jokes aside, this seems like learning to control a body part. Children are constantly refining their internal models of motion as they grow and gain dexterity, so it makes sense that they would learn more quickly than an adult. People who suffer from nerve damage usually recover more quickly and more completely if they have self confidence. It's not mind-over-matter exactly, but those who believe they will fail likely will.

Re:Legit devices shouldn't require magical thinkin

[I don't want to spen]

Maybe the kids have thinner skulls so the signals can get through more easily.

Proof of Suckage

[popo]

Excuse the troll-like subject title above, but if a neuro interface that could actually reflect precise movements and commands had been invented, the company would be running straight to the vastly more lucrative military market long before taking a look at home consoles.

The fact that its coming straight to home consoles suggests that hype and hope will be the products primary market drivers.

My two cents.

Re:Legit devices shouldn't require magical thinkin

[FrostyCoolSlug]

I guess at the end of the day, most adults have a firm grasp of the laws of physics, It's easier to say to a child "You can move a cup with your mind!" and have the child believe and try doing it, than saying it to an adult and not having them laughing at you because they know it's physically not possible.