'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."
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".
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.
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:2, Informative)
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 work, but only 4 (?) games worked with it.
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Translation (Score:3, Informative)
I say all this with authority because I have been conducting research in the field of EEG for more than 5 years and I am very familiar with the level of technology and what can be done with it. I have published 6 peer-reviewed papers on the subject.
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:1, Informative)
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.
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:4, Informative)
Re:The Power Glove seemed cool too (Score:2, Informative)