OCZ's Brain Mouse Hits the Store

John Roller writes "Three months to the day since Slashdot originally received word that OCZ's "brain-mouse" — the Neural Impulse Actuator was ready for shipping, the first in-depth review of the device containing pictures of the retail packaging along with several videos have arrived on the internet. Overclock3D.Net got the first look at the device, and although it's still early days, they managed to play a game of "Pong" using only brain power. The article is only part one in a month-long log of using the device, but it's extremely interesting to see what the people who have pre-ordered the device can expect from it when it arrives on their doorsteps shortly."

Hurray?

[PunkOfLinux]

Hurrah? O.o
This sounds interesting, at least. I wonder if it works on linux. Seriously. Does it work as a standard HID device?

Re:I have to wonder

[Verteiron]

If someone read my mind they'd deserve every ounce of psychological trauma they received.

Seriously though, this device has nothing to do with mind-reading. It's not even capable of reading brainwaves like an EEG machine. It's just measuring electrical signals to muscles on your face.

Re:GPS

[dAzED1]

cars have these things at your fingertips on the steering wheel in newer models; one doesn't need to look away from the road to find a knob, or even take their hands off the wheel. Check out a showroom for details ;)

Head Mouse

[rednip]

Sorry, but this thing doesn't read minds, it measures movement in facial muscles, particularly in the eye brows. Many may find it useful because of a medical problem, cerebral palsy victims likely would, as fine grain muscle control is needed.

Perhaps it should be call a 'head mouse', or 'face mouse', as 'Brain Mouse' is misleading.

Re:I have to wonder

[Kugrian]

"Stop winking at me!"

"I'm not - I'm trying to send an email!"

Seriously though, decades of keyboard and mouse usage have given me superhero-like fingers when compared to none computer users. Will extended use of this give me a face like a body builders chest?

Re:Great for non-gaming also

[petermgreen]

That assumes that thier disorder doesn't affect thier speech too badly for speach recognition to work.

There are people who's only means of communication is using a blink movement or similar to select words as a computer scans a grid.

Re:Optimism

[shirai]

I take it that this is a lot like using a muscle you've never consciously used before. For example, when I first started taking dance lessons, I found it VERY hard to do things that seemed like they should be easy. Moving specific parts of your body in isolation is a lot harder than it should be. Especially if they are muscles you aren't used to using in your daily life.

Similarly, I think if these products ever become popular, there will be a generation of people who will find using them completely natural. Perhaps even to the point where they can be used in place of physical inputs like typing at the keyboard or using a mouse and not just gaming.

And since you aren't limited by your finger/hand's ability to move, ultimately they might be faster for input than traditional methods.

Re:Optimism

[foobsr]

this is a lot like using a muscle you've never consciously used before

Agreed; though, imagine you had the task to 'consciously' control all the muscles involved in an arbitrary day-to-day movement (e.g. something as 'simple' as walking :-)

CC.

Re:I have to wonder

[Lord Ender]

That's a bit like putting a thermometer next to your PC and saying, 'Today we can only tell if it is hot or cold, but someday, we may be able to read every bit on the computer using only the thermometer!'

Re:New Moderation request

[Zarf]

Can we please have a moderation option for "missed the joke"?

Only if we can also have a moderation for complaining about missing moderation options.

-1 bitching about missing mod option.

Forget the games, think internet porn!

[pesho]

Now that people don't need to keep their hands on the inputs at any time, I can see revolution in internet porn coming our way.