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Games Entertainment Hardware

Brain Controlled Tightrope Video Game Shown 248

Bob Sherpowski writes "According to CBBC News, they have come up with a 'game' that you control directly with your brain waves. University College Dublin researchers have designed a game where you are trying to get a monster to walk across a tightrope - if he leans one way or the other you have to concentrate on a box on either side of the tightrope to make him tip the other way. It's still in research and it's not for sale yet but it's the first step. "
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Brain Controlled Tightrope Video Game Shown

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  • by ChaoticChaos ( 603248 ) * <l3sr-v4cf&spamex,com> on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:44AM (#8634496)
    I just can't wait for the first virus to be unleashed on something like this. Instead of the device sending OUT information, it would start sending information IN.

    In all seriousness, I'm overwhelmed with Doubleclick ads now, I don't need them being inputted directly.

    God help us if Microsoft gets ahold of this. Instead of, "Where do you want to go tomorrow", it's "What do we want you to think about today". ;-)

    Btw, what happens if you're using that device and you happen to catch a glimpse of Janet Jackson's Half Time show? Is it suddenly blown straight off your forehead? LOL!
    • I know you meant it as a joke, but I'm in an anal-retentive mood today, so I have to pick at it.

      The game is controlled by brainwaves, but the input is still "old fashioned" screen and speakers. The brainwaves are only output, and are read by one of those caps that psychology majors like to stick on your head and plug into a suitcase to make you think they're doing something important when in fact, it's the student inteviewing you who is the subject of some ingeniously designed experiment.

      The doubleclick a
      • by johnrpenner ( 40054 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @01:14PM (#8636252) Homepage

        this was predicted in 1917:

        Man will, in time, manage to implant the death-forces in man,
        related to electrical and magnetic forces, with external machines.
        He will then be able to direct his intentions, his thoughts into the machine.

        (Rudolf Steiner, Individuelle Geistwesen und einheitlicher
        Weltengrund, November 25, 1917, Dornach Switzerland)

  • by the_2nd_coming ( 444906 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:45AM (#8634504) Homepage
    this will train out brain waves to all be the same so they can control us with better accuracy and reliability!!!!

    DON'T BUY IT!!!!!!
    • by Anonymous Coward
      Don't worry!

      Wil Wheaton is a /.er! So he can help fix Cmdr Data, while that girl distracts everyone, and then Data will use the blinky light thing that Wil figured out with the help of the medical computer's brain simulator to save everyone, after transporting himself around the ship a few times...
    • IANAN (I am not a neurologist) but from what I know of the brain, it is a very adaptable organ and does the same thing in a number of different ways. These kinds of devices are not that much different from TV when you think about it. The only difference being you have a chance to interact and use your brainpower to move a virtual appendage, you can make a choice and you can act, unlike TV where it is pre-programmed. This will be like Pong for the brave new world we are all about to enter.

      The downside
      • > The downside of all of this...siezures. I've seen Johhny Mnemonic, I know what happens when people get too much digital stimulation.

        Funny, I thought the old wives tale was that it would make you go blind, not have seizures...
  • Whoo! (Score:5, Funny)

    by debrain ( 29228 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:46AM (#8634508) Journal
    The Matrix, v0.1.

  • "Strip Poker"!

  • Bah! (Score:4, Funny)

    by nother_nix_hacker ( 596961 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:47AM (#8634520)
    I don't have a brain you insensitive clod!
  • Remember (Score:3, Funny)

    by LooseChanj ( 17865 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:47AM (#8634532) Homepage
    You must think *in russian*
  • Does that mean teh player also dies, cause of the whole "what the brain thinks" issue?
  • Prior Art (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    There's already a game in existence that is controlled by one's brain--it's called life...
  • i mean we also have the Mind juggling monkeys [health24.co.za].
    what i'd really like is a tv that turned down the volume slowly, and then turned off after i fall asleep.
  • by JosKarith ( 757063 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:50AM (#8634564)
    ...just wait for the first Force Feedback models
  • Of course (Score:2, Interesting)

    by xaoslaad ( 590527 )
    Of course, playing the game seems to leave a lot of people looking and acting like this: guy [bbc.co.uk], so most people are hesitant to try it out.

  • by Anonymous Coward
    ...where the action is confined to leaning slightly left or slightly right.

  • damn...looks like I'll have to throw out that tinfoil hat.
  • Cool (Score:2, Funny)

    I can't wait for the force-feedback version.
  • "The Game" (Score:2, Funny)

    by SWroclawski ( 95770 )
    I've seen Star Trek Next Generation- I know what happens now... we all have oh so much fun with the game, as it starts to control our minds and we become enslaved.

    Luckily Wil Wheaton read Slashdot and hopefully will remember the blinking light sequence that saves us all.
  • by kjba ( 679108 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:52AM (#8634592)
    Although this seems to be a promising field, I don't see yet how it can help people that are completely paralysed. The user has to concentrate on certain external images. This means that the user must still be able to move his eyes. For those people that can still move their eyes, better alternatives involving very precise eye-movement sensors exist.

    I would be much more impressed if they could tell from my brainwaves wether I am thinking of a car or a dog.

    • by deman1985 ( 684265 ) <dedwards&kappastone,com> on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:33AM (#8635080) Homepage
      Very true. In its current phase, it is not directly applicable for pari/quadriplegics, but again, it is still only in very early stages of development. With hope, it will eventually progress far enough such that people will be able to walk again just as if they'd never become paralyzed or lost their legs. If they're able to monitor for the proper brainwaves, they should be able to pick up on the impulses that would normally trigger muscle contractions in the legs. The main problem when monitoring for these types of brainwaves, however, is that a person doesn't actually "concentrate" on individual muscle groups; it's mostly involuntary. As a result, it must be more difficult for them to pick these impulses out.

      There are many applications for this type of technology even beyond restoring body movement, though. It might become a totally new way of accepting user input for desktop machines. Think of the application you want to run, and it runs it, or write documents by merely thinking words. For gaming, it could mean having the ultimate life-like simulation for first person shooters. Such technology would probably require people to concentrate better on the tasks at hand, however-- no wondering thoughts...
    • I would assume that's the long-term goal...it's not there yet, but eventually they would not want to be limited to helping just those people who can still move their eyes. New technologies typically start out unable to beat (in terms of speed, reliability or ease of use) the older more entrenched technologies they will eventually replace.

      The interesting thing to me was that the boxes are flashing at different frequencies. I suspect their machine is not picking up anything that could be positively identif

    • by SmallFurryCreature ( 593017 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:56AM (#8635358) Journal
      but people who are paralyzed usually are from the head down. It is damage to the spine and last time I check your eyes are not attached to your spine.

      These people can in fact move their eyes. That is how current systems work, by tracking the movement off the eyes they can manipulate a pointer over a keyboard.

      Also this is just one way of doing it. I seen earlier experiments that worked simply by making the user think of two widely different things. Using that as calibration and then controlling something by thinking of those two things.

      So in fact what you suggest was what they used in one experiment and it worked, tv presentator was capable of doing it with only a few minutes of training.

      Flashing lights is just easier to make a working model I guess but in practice this could work for anyone with a working brain and who is capable of receiving input sufficient to learn about this.

      Pretty amazing stuff really.

    • Well, there's other research, as has been mentioned on /., on interpreting motor impulses. Those impulses can be used to manipulate prosthetics, even if the natural nerve paths are damaged. I think that's the direction to look at for a solution to problems of that nature.
    • > I would be much more impressed if they could tell from my brainwaves wether I am thinking of a car or a dog.

      Or a bomb.

      Would sure make Homesec checkpoints a lot more interesting. The harder you try not to think about bombs, the more likely you are to trigger a false positive.

  • Applications? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Killjoy_NL ( 719667 ) <slashdot@@@remco...palli...nl> on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:52AM (#8634598)
    I think this is great research, it could give paraplegics (sp?) etc the possibility to walk again with mechanical limbs.

    Or am I wrong ??
    • It certainly could, even for quadriplegics. It's possible that the technology could be adapted such that muscle groups could be artificially stimulated for people who haven't actually lost their legs but just suffered a spinal cord injury. For those who have, mechanical limbs could be constructed. It opens up so many new possibilities.
      • Re:Applications? (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Ayaress ( 662020 )
        Mechanical limbs would certainly be an eventual goal, but even in the meantime, it could be used to control electric wheelchairs. I imagine my uncle Danny would have a much less painful life if he didn't have to drag himself around in his wheelchair like he does (he only has full control of his right leg, none of his left, and limited control of his right shoulder, so he can't control an electric wheelchair, but he can maneuver one with his good leg).
  • Oh no (Score:3, Funny)

    by millahtime ( 710421 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:53AM (#8634606) Homepage Journal
    I can see it now...... I am eating ice cream cause my hands are free and i blow the game cause of brain freeze.
  • or "Mawg"...whatever.
  • Virtual Valerie (Score:3, Interesting)

    by superpulpsicle ( 533373 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:54AM (#8634635)
    Virtual Valerie will never be the same.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Oh great (Score:3, Funny)

    by unassimilatible ( 225662 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:54AM (#8634641) Journal
    Instead of my ass growing huge from sitting and playing video games, now my body will atrophy and my head will grow like one of those Talosians [prwdot.org].

  • Wow... the pr0n industry would just *love* this.

  • but isn't any games, or infact any action essential brain-controlled (exception made for political). Sure there might be additional items included in the path, like arms, hands, fingers.
  • by mr_resident ( 222932 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:55AM (#8634652) Homepage
    This is cool, but [needsex] not news. I [william shatner's birthday today - how many more?] saw a [excellent cleavage] report on this several years ago. When [is lunch?] do they expect [what kind of underwear is she wearing?] to have a working prototype for [I need a hug] a really cool game [is there coffee?] like Doom3? [needsex]
    • Brainmaster [brainmaster.com] has been doing this for years. I just sold mine on e-bay. The games are all silly, because there is no way to have a Doom-like experience with a single bit of input, which is currently what these amount to (I'm on the target wavelength or I'm not). While on target, the game advances, otherwise it doesn't. Kind of like the original rebel assault, but without a fire button. Whee.
  • by Punk Walrus ( 582794 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:55AM (#8634657) Journal
    When I was growing up, there were a lot of "ESP Kits" that had crude monitors that supposedly measured brain waves for a new-age fad called "Biofeedback." Mostly they were for helping you get into a medictate trance, but one of them claimed to run a race car slot track based on Alpha Waves (state of relaxed brain activity in mediation), so the the excitiment of winning made you go slower, and not giving a crap whether you won or not made you win. Seemed like a pretty odd balance. That might have been good to learn "the ultimate poker face."

    Having never owned one of those biofeedback devices, I can't say if they ever worked, but I saw lots of ads for them in the mid-late 1970s in magazines like Omni and Popular Mechanics.

    • by Slinky Saves the Wor ( 759676 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:31AM (#8635053) Homepage

      The OpenEEG [sourceforge.net] people aim to create an affordable EEG kit. There's already some schematics for home tinkerers.

      Now I feel bad because I didn't pay attention to learning electronics when I was younger...

      • Wow. That is officially awesome. An idea I just came up with - imagine brain-controlled music. You somehow use the output of an OpenEEG program to control a synthesizer...or to the extreme some sort of robotic device controlling a real instrument...oh man....
    • I know somebody who had one of those in the 80's. Expensive as hell, too. Also hard to work, although we found that spinning ourselves around on rotating bar stools for a few minutes would put us into a half-unconcious state that worked quite well for the system. They called it an ESP kit, but now that I know more about electronics, it was really a stripped down EEG rigged up to the potentiometer speed control of a standard off-the-shelf slotcar racetrack. The lower your EEG readings, the faster it went. Th
  • by TheVidiot ( 549995 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:56AM (#8634664) Homepage

    I simply interfaced [atarihq.com] to my VCS.
  • It's about damn time. This carpal tunnel syndrome is really affecting my WarCraft III games.


    -Colin [colingregorypalmer.net]
  • While at a CompUSA or some other national computer store about 4 years ago(at least), while my sister was looking at computers I wandered into the game section. there was a demo of a skiing game. you put your finger in a little device like a pulse reader. it was rigidly attached, so it wouldn't move left or right. though you controlled the character in the game, through "willing" it somehow. Maybe the interface was pressure sensitive a bit, or maybe it reacted to small changes in your pulse, like "uh oh, i'
  • not the only one... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Polo ( 30659 ) * on Monday March 22, 2004 @10:56AM (#8634671) Homepage
    There's already a game out there that does this.

    the journey to wild divine [wilddivine.com]

    It uses biofeedback to control the game, which is a little different than the technique used in this game.
    • Yeah, has anyone here played that game? Probably not, it seems to be designed to prey on those subject to a particular brand of newage. My mom sent me a link to this game this morning, and I checked out the setup: three skin resistance and heartrate monitors that slip over fingers.

      Not that these don't work, can't say either way, it's probably pretty cool. It just figures that it's aimed at the snake oil market.

      Biofeedback based on skin resistance and heartrate variability aren't brainwave monitors, howeve
  • A friend of mine thought he was gonna get rich when he was the manufacturer's rep for a product called The Mind Drive. You could use your thoughts to "think right or left" and these thoughts would register in your finget and be transmitted to the screen as you slalom down a ski slope. It was actually pretty cool Here is a CNET article from 1995. The Mind Drive [com.com]
  • The article's a bit skimpy on the details (and not to mention, 3 weeks old). But the headset looks interesting. Where could one get a headset like this, and how much would it cost?

  • Would be interesting to see what would happen if someone with severe dyslexia tried the game
  • I'm an AOL user, you insensitive clod!
  • I recently went to a thesis defense studying some brainwave computer interface. There seems to be a lot of interesting study going on here. This particular thesis was studying a particular type of interface that focuses on what one of the commitee members called the "ah ha!" reaction. The implemented system used a scull cap with probes like an EEG on it that targeted a particular set of waves. The user would watch a screen interface and icons representing choices would flash randomly. Whenever the icon the
  • There is an adventure game called The Journey to Wild Divine [wilddivine.com].

    Instead of reading brain waves, it reads heart rate fluctuations and skin conductance level (sweat), both of which you learn to control over the course of the game.
  • by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:12AM (#8634846) Journal
    I'm curious as to whether the human brain has a limit as to number of outputs. We know that with a feedback device so that a person can see what they're doing, it's possible to teach someone to be able to control characteristics of their brain waves. This could, presumably, be used as an output to control some device. What happens if we just take this higher resolution, add more types of devices Babies don't grow up knowing how to operate their hands and feet -- they have to see them moving and form links to understand what output signals correspond to "leg moved". Why couldn't we do the same with the brain? We wait for particular parts of the brain to be activated at a particular level, and treat that as a signal. I've no idea what kind of bandwidth we're talking about, but if you consider the complexity of talking and that we can deal with going from zero knowledge about talking to learning how to talk properly, that we could manage the same with a brain output device.

    It would be nice to be able to type into my computer, to be able to interface in a more efficient manner than putting myself in a particular position, putting my fleshy extensions on a bunch of blocks on a keyboard, and then having the keyboard record how they wiggle and tell the computer.

    OTOH, a brain-controlled computer would deprive my fingers of their precious exercise.

    Oh, yes...a hands-free headset with goggles, one controlled by the brain, would be terribly cool.
    • OTOH, a brain-controlled computer would deprive my fingers of their precious exercise.

      I doubt it :-)

      Sorry, couldn't resist. No offence intended, just a laugh.


    • It would be nice to be able to type into my computer, to be able to interface in a more efficient manner than putting myself in a particular position, putting my fleshy extensions on a bunch of blocks on a keyboard, and then having the keyboard record how they wiggle and tell the computer.

      Now theres an extremely good idea, and by god Im sure its possible with a similar technology. Consider what happens when you type stuff into the computer? Well, you basically thinking of a word and your hands automatica
    • The practical limitation with this kind of thing is that electrical activity recorded at the scalp is noisy and diffuse. If you could implant an electrode, or a chip with wireless transmitter then you can use the actual neural signals themselves to control something external. This has been done in monkeys. [mit.edu]

      But at this point I bet most people are not going to want one of these implanted in their parietal lobe just to play a video game.

      On the other hand, you can do a lot better with EEG than these guys
  • by Halthar ( 669785 )
    This really isn't all that new. IBVA [ibva.com] has been working with this for a while, and also does many other things. There are kits to use brainwave patterns to fastforward or rewind your VCR/DVD Player/CD Player, create midi compositions from your brainwaves while you sleep, and a game control system for consoles. You can also record brainwave patterns while you jog or do whatever else and aren't within range of the receiver.

    Oh, and they also claim to have some Linux stuff in the pipe as well. Though, admitt
    • This really isn't all that new. IBVA has been working with this for a while, and also does many other things. There are kits to use brainwave patterns to fastforward or rewind your VCR/DVD Player/CD Player, create midi compositions from your brainwaves while you sleep, and a game control system for consoles. You can also record brainwave patterns while you jog or do whatever else and aren't within range of the receiver. Oh, and they also claim to have some Linux stuff in the pipe as well. Though, admitte
  • Tech Demo? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by screwballicus ( 313964 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:14AM (#8634864)
    I'd certainly consider this interesting material for a tech demo, but can it function within a real game?

    A game presumably has to be fun, and its controls conducive to that, and while the controls for a game including this functionality might be a remarkable technical feat, they could also be absolutely infuriating. We'll have to see.
  • So what happens when these kinds of things become commonplace? The human brain is a highly complex thing, its self-organising properties allow it to adapt, improve and learn new things.

    What will happen if/when these things become commonplace and people are "Used" to controling everyday things with the mind? Could this change the human psyche or affect our communication in some way? Who knows what hitherto unknown behaviours will emerge from training the parts of the brain that might be used in technology l
  • finally! (Score:4, Funny)

    by yulek ( 202118 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @11:18AM (#8634909) Homepage Journal
    we finally return to a time where you have to use your brain to play a computer game...
  • by emtboy9 ( 99534 )
    Ok... how long before this is embraced and extended by the makers of find interactive pr0n?
  • why did they draw a beard and eyebrows on the styrofoam head?

    it's just a styrofoam head... after all...

    if they wanted to make it look better on the photo, why didnt they just put a real person under the headset?
  • ..theoretically before the experience of playing a game or even watching a movie is completely "neural" without extermal stimuli. If you've taken any psychology class you might have studied the research involving converting analogue sound to digital sound then to chemical neural impulses for the brain. The same thing goes for vision. Originally the patient had to carry around a cart that had housed the eleoctronic device that did this. Now it's a small belt sort of device, essentially smaller and more accu
  • I saw the same thing FOR SALE at a Computer city nearly 10 years ago. It was a bio-feedback monitor that let you control the direction of a downhill skier. There were a couple other simplistic games too, but the control method was the same, and it seemed a little unpredictable.
  • Hee (Score:2, Interesting)

    by kabdib ( 81955 )
    Right before everything fell apart at Atari (in 1984) there was this headband controller. The designer thought he was a genius. Atari was losing millions of bucks a day, but he was wandering the halls with this thing strapped to his head, certain that he was going to make millions on royalties.

    You wrapped the band around your noggin and a couple of electrodes picked up changes in resistance caused by tensing your muscles. So you could furrow your brow (and move a paddle to the left...) or unfurrow (and
  • More BCI information (Score:4, Informative)

    by Rathumos ( 87696 ) <drl7@@@po...cwru...edu> on Monday March 22, 2004 @12:00PM (#8635414) Homepage
    Some further links for more information on Brain-Computer Interfaces:


    Upcoming talk and demonstration on the development of Brain-Computer Interfaces: http://www.notacon.org/speakers.html#lowne [notacon.org] (shameless plug)


    Invasive, motor-cortical BCI development at Utah: http://www.bioen.utah.edu/cni/Projects/Motor.htm [utah.edu]


    Mike Gibbs' work with BCIs at Oxford University's Robotics Group: http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~mgibbs/research.html [ox.ac.uk]


    The Neural Prostheses program at the National Institutes of Health includes calls for proposals in BCI development: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/npp/ [nih.gov]


    The University of British Columbia's BCI research group: http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~garyb/BCI.htm [ece.ubc.ca]


    Results of the 2003 Brain Computer interface competition (focuses on signal processing techniques): http://ida.first.fraunhofer.de/projects/bci/compet ition/results/index.html [fraunhofer.de]


    BCI development at the Cognitive Science and Technology group at the Helsinki University of Technology: http://www.lce.hut.fi/research/bci/ [lce.hut.fi]

    Dr. Jessica Bayliss's BCI work and extensive bibliography (very important, seminal work on BCI development): http://www.cs.rit.edu/~jdb/research/ [rit.edu] and http://www.cs.rit.edu/~jdb/research/baylissThesis. pdf [rit.edu]


    Dr. Charles Anderson's work at Colorado State University with EEG pattern classification in BCI systems: http://www.cs.colostate.edu/eeg/index.html [colostate.edu]

    Manchester University's Toby Howard has written some good articles on BCIs, mostly for Popular Science: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/aig/staff/toby/research/bc i/ [man.ac.uk]


    Dr. Michael Black at Brown University teaches a course in BCI development: http://www.cs.brown.edu/courses/cs295-7/home.html [brown.edu]


    Cyberkinetics, Inc. makes medical-use BCIs: http://www.cyberkineticsinc.com/ [cyberkineticsinc.com]

  • IBVA [ibva.com] has been around for ages, apparently works well, has a playstation attachment, and has been available for sale for years.

    And has some kind of linux support.

    No, I've no idea why we don't all have one either...

  • Dunno about you guys, but I play games so I don't have to think, its an escape. Playing FPS games are almost like reflex action... Not sure if thought powered games will ever get to that point.
  • through these interesting appendages called 'hands' and 'feet'. These are actually directly wired to centers in my brain, and they can be used directly to control games, etc.

    Seriously folks, with all due respect, why are we spending lots of money to develop what amounts to an inherently low bandwidth control? Trying to control something by modifying brain waves, to make it go 'left' or 'right', will never compete with a directly wired hand, the nerves of which will always have a much higher bandwidth and
  • I, for one, welcome [yahoo.com] our new Mentat [wikipedia.org] overlords [scifi.com]!

    = 9J =


  • Let's file this in the "already been done" category. That would be under Atari MindLink System controller, circa 1984.

  • by Cruciform ( 42896 ) on Monday March 22, 2004 @03:25PM (#8637498) Homepage
    Here's a much cheaper solution.

    1) Rent a copy of your favorite game.

    2) Invite your most passive friend over for the day.

    3) Set him up in front of the console.

    4) Now spent the whole afternoon telling him how to play, what he's doing wrong, and generally hurling abuse at him. "Left you fuck! Turn left! Oh look, now you're DEAD!"

    Eventually you'll either have complete control over his actions or he'll crack and shove the controller up your ass.

    Just pray it's not the original XBox controller.
  • But how does it compare to the crappy biofeedback controls in MindSkier [google.com]?

"The medium is the message." -- Marshall McLuhan

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