'Mind Gaming' Could Enter Market This Year 154
An anonymous reader writes "In an adapted version of the Harry Potter video game, players lift boulders and throw lightning bolts using only their minds. Just as physical movement changed the interface of gaming with Nintendo's Wii, the power of the mind may be the next big thing in video games. And it may come soon. Emotiv, a company based in San Francisco, says its mind-control headsets will be on shelves later this year, along with a host of novel "biofeedback" games developed by its partners. Several other companies — including EmSense in Monterey, California; NeuroSky in San Jose, California; and Hitachi in Tokyo — are also developing technology to detect players brainwaves and use them in next-gen video games."
Lawsuits (Score:5, Interesting)
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I cant wait.
In all seriousness, this does rock, we have only been waiting for this for years now. next step. Holodecks.
How long before the feds want the log files...? (Score:2)
It's all in the name of National Security.
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I don't know what players will be required to 'do' when using this device, but if it's different to normal gaming, normal rules will not apply.
Regardless, I wasn't necessarily saying that the headset will cause any problems, but that parents may well attempt to blame any problems that do occur on that scary/frankensteiny/mind-reading helmet.
Some people distrust scientists you know. Yet others, in their grief, try to blame anything that might possibly have caused their probl
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AFAIK, the most advanced neural interfaces (the ones DARPA is working on) haven't gotten much more advanced than "Up or Down" and even that requires serious concentration and practice. Seems like a lot of work and money just to play PONG.
Agreed, but I think introducing even mind-controlled Pong will have just a much of a "Wow" factor for the average person as the Wii did, which I hope will encourage more research into this by private companies. How many Wii minigames are just variations on "move the nunchuck and the controller up and down really fast"? But people love it anyway, and that creates incentive to make even cooler stuff.
Personally, I'm hoping they come out with one sensitive enough to make the "Doc Ock" suit a reality. B
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Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:5, Interesting)
I would bet that the next big thing, after motion-sensitive controllers, is going to be voice recognition. Imagine you're playing as Captain Kirk, and you can issue commands like "Ahead full impulse power!", "Fire photon torpedoes", or even, during an away mission to some forgotten planet, "Beam me up, Scotty!". I'm not even a huge Star Trek fan or anything, but I think that would be pretty cool.
Or what about Half-Life 2: what if you could issue commands for your forces, like "medic!" "cover me!" or "attack that strider!" and your squad would actually do something useful, instead of just complain and get shot (which is about the limits of their current capabilities)? And how much easier would it be to control your units in StarCraft, if you could just say "[unit name], [action]", for instance, "Wraiths, cloak", "tanks, seige mode", or "marines, attack carrier"?
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:5, Interesting)
In other games, voice recognition is best for vague commands. If you want a specific tank to go to a specific location, then a point and click interface is best. If you want all tanks of a specific category to adopt some general behaviour then a voice interface can be better. Things like fire at will or return fire behaviour in Total Annihilation were really fiddly to set, but just saying 'fleet, fire at will' would have been a lot faster.
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After being subjected to games like He
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They should have all been shot for mutiny.
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:4, Informative)
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:5, Interesting)
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It's pretty decent. If you are simply standing on solid ground, it won't fool you very well because there's the proprioceptive "sense" which comes mostly from weight shifts in the joints but they got around that by making the wearer stand/sit on what is basically a memory foam pad that causes you to have to constantly adjust your weight in order to be stable. Right now my MotionWare is sitting on a shelf doing nothing(I can see it right now) as it has for the last 7 years or so since
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Moore's law alone gives 128-fold increase. Something that is 128 times better is 128 times better.
Can you really compare a powerglove to a wiimote? Isn't 128 times better? Now add a few more years and we get into the thousands quickly.
Remember, we are still on target for singularity by 2020 or so.
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:4, Funny)
Slashdotters may actually find themselves in the forefront of a sexual revolution, imagine-
The hot chick from the flat above asking if you can come round and fix her BSOD'd Love Helm (tm).
Torrents of the outputs from said Helms floating around on The Pirate Bay.
Spurned ex-boyfriends of Hollywood starlets leaking recordings of the signals, rather than plain old homebrew porno.
Oh, the possibilities. Gotta go - ah - lie down...
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>The hot chick from the flat above asking if you can come round and fix her BSOD'd Love Helm (tm).
In America? No self-respecting woman would admit to owning one let alone asking a stranger to fix one. When was the last time your neighbor asked you to fix her broken dildo?
Yeah, I know parent post is a joke, but I w
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"Torrents of the outputs from said Helms [wikipedia.org] floating around on The Pirate Bay."
Not in my VR helmet, thank you very much...
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:5, Insightful)
True. However, it wasn't that the new interface that made the Power Glove fail but rather the fact it didn't work. I had gotten one as a kid and the thing never worked and was very cumbersome to program. The was most likley due to the fact it was of poor quality and was more of a gimmick than actually being a well designed product.
The same fate happened for the VR Boy. It was basically an LED that was on a spinning mirror. Great idea but the worst possible implementation ever.
I personally think the technology was not ready for either back in the 90s. However, they kind of got it right with the Wii remote and maybe someday LED technology will allow VR glasses that don't weigh 20lbs and give you a head ache after an hour of use.
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Regardless, I think a big part of the reason it wasn't used much at all was the huge hassle it took to get it set up with games (you had to actually know and enter in a code for each game before you could use it), and even if it supported it, it just didn't work well at all, and you were better off just using the NES controller.
A better example from Nintendo for accessories they released was probably the Super Scope. Neat, and did w
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Spot on. This is the new Power Glove, except even less useful.
This interface is based on some beta software for paraplegiacs, with a bandwidth of a few bytes per second, while taking months to get accustomed to as all the hard parts of the interface are shifted from hardware and software to the meat-ware, your brai
It is awfully close to April 1st (Score:2)
In Soviet Russia.. (Score:5, Funny)
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It's basic number systems stuff. In any number system, 10 is equal to the base. So in binary 10 equals two, in the decimal system it equals ten. The world population is about 10 in the base of six and a half billion.
Of course, not everyone knows about alternative number systems, so my sig doesn't work quite smoothly. The phrase "There are x people in the world" could imply that x is the total world population, whereas here it only refers to the number of people who know about these number systems.
Patents? (Score:1, Insightful)
As long as it's read only :-) (Score:2)
(BOFHs would say yes, of course
Couch potatoes unit! (Score:5, Insightful)
1) They make a complete interface that allows the gamer to sit on the couch and do nothing physical when he/she is playing the game.
2) They make this interface work in conjunction with other body movement - like maybe adding it to the Wii games like Avatar. You'd actually have to move and think the right things to get the character on screen to do what you want.
The former will make even bigger couch potatoes and the latter will make people even more active while gaming.
I personally would choose the latter if given the choice.
Great workout..... (Score:5, Interesting)
I always wanted a martial arts game where you would wear gloves and boots and fight a computer guy. it wouldn't be the same as sparring with a real opponent (3D, depth perception, actually getting hit, etc...) but it sure would be a great and fun workout - maybe even helping with timing.
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At least, if guitar hero threads are any indication.
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I think the ideal would be a device that combines full body gestures with brain activity. This could use a Wii-like controller or even better, motion sensitive gloves with AR-style sensors that detect finger position. This gives you natural pushing, pulling, grasping, throwing, object swinging, waving
Just keep them away from me. (Score:3, Funny)
I just hope to hell that nobody ever interfaces one of these to a cell phone. The bluetooth headset zombies are quite bad enough, thank you.
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I just hope to hell that nobody ever interfaces one of these to a cell phone. The bluetooth headset zombies are quite bad enough, thank you.
Bah! What's a little Cyberman Invasion! ;-)
For those that don't watch Doctor Who I'm referring to the closing of Series 2 of the new shows:
Rise of the Cybermen [bbc.co.uk]
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Of course, then there's the part where I insist on calling it season 28 of Doctor Who, but I'll let that one slide ;)
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This tech - made affordable - would be an enormous boost to the morale of the elderly and disabled.
It is important to keep physically active, of course.
But to win a game - or simply to be competitive - against those less physically restricted [their own grandkids, perhaps] would be sweet.
Compatible with tin-foil? (Score:1)
Translation (Score:3, Insightful)
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Hardly, OCZ has already released their neural impulse actuator, which allows gamers to map neural impulses to keys that would be used in gameplay. (ie. WADS) It's not vaporware, it's already here and on shelves (or will be very shortly.)
http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2008/273 [ocztechnology.com]
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In fact, that's how I would do it. For example, the instructions would tell kids to think hard and concentrate to cause some action, but the machine would only look at their eyebrow position (which tends to change while kids concentrate).
I think the device might work in theory, but not in a way advertized. But yeah, I a
Question: (Score:4, Funny)
I mean, how many madden players are there who buy the same game 49 times?
Heh... (Score:1)
Mind Games? (Score:5, Funny)
Remember the ST:TNG episode... (Score:5, Funny)
The one where everybody on the Enterprise became addicted to that game that came with a headset and you controlled with your mind? Everybody became addicted to the thing and went all nutzo. Then Wil Wheaton saved the day by making out with Ashley Judd.
I would totally get this if I got to make out with a hot chick in a starfleet uniform.
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Ah yes, TNG Season 5 episode 6 - The Game. Actually, it was Data that ended up saving the day with the strobe light. Wesley Crusher did fix Data's positronic links that were severed by Dr Crusher, but they ended up forcing Wesley to play the game right before Data saved them.
[/comic book guy voice]
Remember the ATHF episode? (Score:2)
Pornography and online gaming at hundreds of times the speed of your normal advertising service provider!
It's so easy to use, and the surgery to implant it in the base of your skull is so painless, it's no wonder I'm number one!
Sign up for the thirty day trial. You must have to have it for thirty days! unlimited hours, over an extremely limited amount of time. telephones? HA! HA! HA! how primitive!!! Live streaming Broa
Wearable computing and the return of hats. (Score:4, Interesting)
I would sincerely like to be able to have a computer display in my glasses that I could view while walking around or standing in line.. at the very least providing something akin to a wearable Garmin gps device. The problem in my daydream has always been; how do I control the silly thing? How am I going to type? Mini keyboards like that on my phone are fine for short messages, but unsuited to any sort of real industrial typing and completely useless if I have to be walking or driving at the same time.
I would be willing to put a great deal of effort into learning how to type with my mind fluently.
However, wearing something like this on my head would make me look kind of silly in the business world. If an interface like this really takes off it could help ignite a resurgence of hats. I read an article recently revolving around how fifty years ago men of any class were rarely out and about without some form of stylish hat. As time passed this trend ended and now all we're left with is casual baseball caps. I've always liked a good fedora, and if they became fashionable to use as a mind interface cover then I could safely wear one in public without looking demented.
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Kind of like sticking a little Borg-like flashing widget behind your ear and walking down the street talking to thin air?
From what I can see, what is acceptable in the business world morphs as something becomes popular, useful, or trendy with the C-levels. The first adopters will be snickered at; and then if it becomes as ubiquitous as iPods and bluetooth Borg-earpieces, those same snickerers will ru
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I think you're wrong about the hat thing, though. Back when they introduced the Walkman, a lot of people assumed it would be a flop because who the hell would want to wear earphones that make you look like a robot space alien? And let's not get started on people with the hands-free cell phones. You look ridiculous. Trust me on this. Bu
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Typi
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As a concept, something like a touch screen element shaped like a mouthguard, that alone could help quadriplegic patients. Eventually you would be able to make them into something like braces, or dentures.
Not my mind thank you.. (Score:1)
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It's not like they're reading your thoughts anyway. Just the electrical signal produced by clusters of neurons firing.
Maybe that can eventually be decoded into thought (although I suspect the particular signals that would work best for gaming are motor in nature), but that technology is probably rather far away.
Sony patent (Score:2)
Jedi? (Score:1)
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PS9 Commercial (Score:2)
YouTube link to commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CZXZM6TFb4/ [youtube.com]
Top 10 "Gee, that sounds like..." (Score:2)
8) Great, till Mystique injects that black goo and blows your mind
7) Can you replay the games back into my skull? (Strange Days)
6) FORBIDDEN PLANET! (The dials go up to 10 to the infinite power)
5) "There's nothing you can't do once you put your mind to it." (Now, you can)
...
...
1) WHOA! I know kung-fu!!!
Great, can we get a game that does math facts, multiplication tables, etc. I'm always amazed at how my kids can memorize
Copy of OCZ's Neural Impusle Actuator? (Score:1)
Input Devices topic graphic? (Score:1)
Because you use a spoon to "input" food?
(I hope that's not it, because that's a touch retarded.)
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Prior Art (Score:2)
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http://www.piclist.com/techref/article/byte/index.htm
His was actually neuro-muscular IIRC but still biofeedback
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Here's the link... [piclist.com]
read carefully (Score:3, Informative)
The only component of those measurements that could actually be used for real-time game control is the EMG, that is, measuring the activation of muscles. That may make for interesting games, but it has nothing to do with "mind reading".
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The only component of those measurements that could actually be used for real-time game control is the EMG, that is, measuring the activation of muscles. That may make for interesting games, but it has nothing to do with "mind reading".
You're right on that point. EEG response is very fast but it's too much sensitive to electromagnetic interference and artifacts like blinking, talking, etc.
They also say they could rely on NIRS. I don't beleive they could (I've done my master thesis on that field). NIRS signal have a response time of 5 to 20 seconds. So for it to work, that would be a sloooooooow and boring game !
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Not just that, but they aren't even trying to get anything more specific than general arousal.
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You do more than that though, you teach yourself to perform certain actions by controlling your brainwaves.
Who knows what system you are going to upset with this.
I say this because I used to play around with SIRDS (single image random dot stereograms) a lot up to the point
where I could slip easily into the stereo mode and out. When I got that far I occasionally would wake up in the morning and my eyes wouldn't focus right when watching the ceiling. It still hap
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That's pretty common and happens to anybody, whether they have watched SIRDS previously or not.
You do more than that though, you teach yourself to perform certain actions by controlling your brainwaves.
Well, all they are looking for in the EEG is alpha waves. Being able to induce alpha waves voluntarily is probably a good thing.
New as of 15 years ago (Score:1)
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Thought Controlled TV Remotes !!! (Score:1)
Don't believe the hype (Score:5, Informative)
Last I checked, their marketing videos are ridiculously flashy while showing no real control capability. My belief: EEG headsets like these, at best, will be controllable only by facial muscles (which completely overshadow the electrical potential generated by the brain) and by alpha rhythm amplitude, a very slow control signal demonstrated in "BrainBall", which was posted to slashdot some time earlier. At worst these headsets will be near-worthless devices, their sales supported entirely by false promises and media hype.
Perry Bible Fellowship (Score:2)
That reminds me of this comic:
Perry Bible Fellowship [pbfcomics.com]
Mind Games Olympics (Score:5, Funny)
I thought the entire appeal of online porn is that it's "victory" without the mind games, though its ultimate dissatisfaction is because it's really just a single-player mind game anyway.
give it a good mouse/joystick driver (Score:2)
I need this technology-- even if it just works for mouse clicks.
I can't wait for... (Score:2)
I call dibbs on the Prof. X avatar.
"EmoKey"? (Score:2)
For example, with Emotiv's headset and the "Emotiv EmoKey," players may be able to incorporate biofeedback into many of their favorite PC games, such as the Harry Potter game. By using the EmoKey, players can link their detected brainwaves to actions in the game. For instance, by concentrating on an object, players can cause their avatar to pick up and handle that object.
Just curious, am I the only one who laughed when I read about their new "EmoKey"?
Marketers, here's a hint: Avoid the prefix "Emo" in your products' names. Nothing positive comes to mind when hearing that word.
Won't work, but the better bet might be. . . (Score:2)
--Although, there was a Slashdot story a couple of days ago on room temperature superconductors [slashdot.org] which would provide the kind of technological leap necessary to make such a controller possible, (that is, if my understanding of sci-fi technology is correct, i.e. Brainstorm [imdb.com]) --And, if according the article, the superconducting medium can be pressurized to about ten million atmospheres. (Don't hurl your headset to the floor in frustration, or you might crack a gask
I played this at GDC (Score:3, Informative)
1) It didn't work at all one some people (me being on of them).
2) The company says it is useless for games.
It's funny that there is an article about this being for games, because the reps at the show said that it wasn't really useful for games, and they were instead looking into military and commercial apps. For example, using it to see if drivers are awake. Or if a pilot is in need of a stimulant. But as for games, you really can't change your mental focus while doing something else. In the demo game, the rep would move your character around for you and click on things because it wasn't realistic for the player to be in a "meditative" state while doing those things. And since the whole contraption can only measure one axis, it is a lot of complexity for very little value.
It was a nice tech demo but there was only so much that could be done with it. It is definitely not the next big thing in gaming.
Silly but maybe fun... (Score:2)
In fact, training your brain is significantly more difficult because we have no experience doing it. The brain is
In Soviet Russia ... (Score:2)
For those with a disability. (Score:2, Interesting)
Anyone with a physical impairment that prevents them from using standard input device technology would love something like this. Assuming it works at all..
I, for one (Score:2)
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A more effective and cheaper solution would be to run PSAs throughout the day and evening, telling parents to "be fucking responsible" and "watch your kid". All the technology in the world cannot compensate for idiot parents.
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Well that's a rather depressing statement.
We're doomed.