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Look Ma, I'm Playing PC Games With Brain Waves!
legitreviews.com — OCZ technology has been showing off the Neural Impulse Actuator over at CeBIT this past week and the device is worth a look. The actuator uses three neural sensors that are resting on the forehead of the user to create unique commands based on the specific permutation of brain, eye and facial muscle activity. Freaked out yet?
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- rezonq3, on 10/12/2007, -3/+35I'd like to impulse her neuron...
- woojoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10No hands!
- vhold, on 10/12/2007, -0/+42"the OCZ neural impulse actuator doesn't use electrode cream, which is a good thing because the last thing gamers would want to do is lube up before playing their favorite game."
Well... I guess that depends on what your favorite game is... - jim1977, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2atari tried a similar system before with their vcs 2600 system -- although it was called mindlink, it really used sensors to detect the electrical activity to move your eyebrows -- somewhat unsurprisingly it flopped massively
wiki has a pretty brief description, but the page it links to is pretty explanatory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Mindlink - spartan002117, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15I'm in ur brain controlling your game.
- UO07, on 10/12/2007, -11/+6In Soviet Russia, the game controls you.
- draebor, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4It's like the reverse Wii concept...
- demitri, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Amazing technology!! I wonder if the device is responsive enough to handle fast-paced 'brain waves' while seriously gaming...
- NikoKun, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Yah I can only imagine somehow mapping movement such as the WASD keys to my brain signals... and moving around in a game like say... Oblivion... hehe
Even if I had to use the keyboard and mouse for extra things such as fighting and spell casting... at least my hands are free from such a simple a task as running around. If this was to work, both the mouse and keyboard could be used for more important gameplay.
The mouse could aim as it normally does, and control main attacks, but I could then map far more hotkeys directly under my fingertips for almost instant use, as my fingers would already be on those keys! All the directional movements for the game could simply be done with this device.
Man if it worked like that... it would be a dream... I want one, especially if the price drops below 250 someday. - unknamed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14This is amazing! Now my arms can atrophy just like my legs!!!
- NikoKun, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Yah I can only imagine somehow mapping movement such as the WASD keys to my brain signals... and moving around in a game like say... Oblivion... hehe
- ocrdigger, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1Maybe now I can beat Fatal1ty!
- MDrake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Your thoughts are probably just as slow as your hand-eye coordination. ;)
- drexor69, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5Jonathan (Fatal1ty) is the end result of a long term (80 years) eugenics experiment; he is superior in every way to the average human (much like Kahn) and could overload the synopsis in your brain with a casual thought. In fact the Koreans used the data from our secret eugenics experiments to enhance their own inborn RTS skills on a national level.
I.E. you could be hooked up to HAL2000 and Fatal1ty would still kick your ass.- gaqua, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Fatal1ty is only guy who claims to be a badass and has a lisp. Maybe Sean Connery has a lisp, or maybe it's the mustache. Nobody knows.
- Tiggi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1As for the experience (and the experiment) with my brain waves, I would definitely try it...For fun - that's all. But I don't believe it is a real and proved process - it appears to me to be the next very cheesy trick to market crap.
- gaqua, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Fatal1ty is only guy who claims to be a badass and has a lisp. Maybe Sean Connery has a lisp, or maybe it's the mustache. Nobody knows.
- Breeder18, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Excellent I don't have any arms, and am typing this with my tongue! I can't wait to start gaming again!
- falloutsyndrome, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I've waited so long to say this . . . "Look ma, no hands!"
- inarguable, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4Christopher Reeve could really use this technolo...oh, wait...nevermind.
- SirGrok, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4Classy!
- fatadamblog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Ha imagine, dumb or retarded people will now have brain lag.
Oh bad taste? Deal with it!- vhold, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Bad taste -and- illogical. They already have brain lag.
- hartley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7$300?
I'm half way tempted.
But then again, I also bought a Power Glove when I was younger. - nyx210, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2*ahem* videos anyone?
- brandonking, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6Ugh. This is such crap. The sensors are right along the muscles that control eyebrow movements, which is WAY bigger than the minute EEG, so all they're picking up is a combination of EMG (muscles) and EOG (eye movements). Yeah, I believe that OCZ can design a neural interface that doesn't require 128 channels all across the scalp like every EEG-based brain-comp researcher. And even then, it would be picking up EEG from the frontal lobe, which amounts to trying to control a steering wheel with noun - it's just idiotic to even think about. You wouldn't be able to direct it, because just by the attending to the mouse you would be altering it. So, yeah. Nice EMG device. I bet you could put it on your shoulder and have even better control.
- smokinjuan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Huh? The article says it works. Where's my $300?
- bob555, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This is the greatest invention since the Gyromite Robot revolutionized the gaming industry.
- joejoeknows, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1playing warcraft with your eyes!! - http://www.cs.kent.edu/~okomogor/wowpercept/wowpercept.htm
- NanoStuff, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"Freaked out yet?"
By what, a ***** consumer version of an EEG machine? Nope, not yet, but I'll be sure to let everyone know if I freak out. - LaSepultura, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0Another nail in the PS3 coffin.
- sid0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Is this some new meme that I don't know of?
- aerogant, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKd_AJUUT7Q
- jmke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I recorded that at Cebit :)
full info about that movie: http://www.madshrimps.be/gotoartik.php?articID=551
- jmke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I recorded that at Cebit :)
- jmke, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3More info about the technology and a live demo I recorded at Cebit here: http://www.madshrimps.be/gotoartik.php?articID=551
I was pretty surprised at how well it worked, although the actual "reading data from brain" (alpha/beta waves) were harder to control - LakeshoreBaby, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3This is complete bull. There is no way three electrodes on the front of the head could read brain waves and extraocular movements enough to give total control over a game. This is just more propaganda to get us excited about other electronic gadgets that have terrible implications like national ID cards with all our credit history on them, and implantable microchips. : (
- CKQS, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Homer: Do you come with the game?
Model: Oh you (giggles) - exodii, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8They must have searched for a long time to find a model who actually has some neural activity.
- systemghost, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I want to try this.
- zBard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Isnt there a MIT prof Kevin Warwick - the cyborg expert , who has been controlling remote devices using nerve pulses for some time now ? Now that would be cool , a game based on that wud rock - not like this pseudo wireless eeg controlled *****. Instantaneous response, natural UI (u think of moving and u STRAFE) and even adrenaline/pain based context gaming ....
hmmmmm ..... - anomalya, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5i love how intelligence is slowly removing the human body from the equation of life
- calvmari, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Think of it this way, technology is moving to be more fluent with a human. In the beginning technology is clumsy and difficult, in the future technology will be transparent to the way we live and require a very shallow learning curve.
- NomenNescio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1300 is too much, even for a really really cool gimmick. >.>
- sirdaz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1ooo I dunno. I don't often play games, in fact hardly ever. But I'd still pay $300 for one.
- Blazer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I wonder how long before there will be a need for plastic surgery to correct "Gamers Brow", caused by prolonged facial contortions while trying to concentrate while playing games.
- iandigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"...remember..must think...in Russian"
- radio1mike, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I know it's been posted above...
But I liked this when I read my summer issue 1983 of AtariAge and it was called Atari MindLink. The big problem now with the MindLink would be all the people using botox on their foreheads! 0wnage! - ChileanGoD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This would be great for weapon switching in FPS. I would sure could use it in UT2k4. Could really free up your hands for nifty acrobatic movements.
"FLAK!" "LG!" "SHOCK!" - GoblinSoul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Erm, is it me or is this huge? It only has five hundred diggs.
- jaz677, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2YES!
Another cancer causing product! - jaz677, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2YES!!!
Another cancer-causing product - dudad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is amazing! Now all I have to do is blink my left eye to go left, blink my right eye to go right, drop my jaw to duck, and scrunch my nose to jump!
Technology is absolutely amazing! - electricarc89, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Does anyone remember some sort of "Brainwave controller" from about 10 years ago? I remember seeing it on sale at an electronics store a while back.
Supposedly you were supposed to hook this sensor up to your finger and play what looked like pong... using your brain.
Anyone know what I'm talking about? I'm kind of curious myself. - ford442, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0you guys are expecting it to control fast paced games with thought alone? that's still years and years away I'm pretty sure - this reads alpha beta theta delta waves just like every other commercially available EEG-PC box.. can't those levels be read just as easily from the frontal lobe as anywhere else? this product is not for doing serious brain research - it probably can't give you a view of anything going on in the brain itself besides the wave metering.. i don't know how difficult it is to alter these levels intentionally or with what dexterity they can me moved - but i think anything beyond that requires a functioning understanding of exactly how the brain processes any given thought.. as far as i know that requires a lot more scientific study.. i am going to buy it though! at $300 i would consider it even if it just did the wave metering..
- fjccommish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I use one of these every day. I bind B11, which as people have commented is muscle movement (jaw or eye brows) to fire or to other left click functions. I can play tetris with it, completely hands free.
It isn't reading thoughts. But unlike other similar devices, because it does a good job with the eye and muscle movement, it can handle fast twitch tasks.
Research with the air force showed a 15% improvement in reaction time using this as opposed to a button in response to a visual cue. Last fall I demoed this around the country and found 15% to 70% improvement compared to pressing the left mouse button, with casual and hard core gamers.
Martin who is in the video uses it for forward motion, strafing and firing. He uses the mouse for mouse look. For me, it relieves the discomfort of pressing a mouse button (because of some arthritis in the finger.) Someone else also mentioned it can free up a button for another task.
It takes some practice to get used to it, but it realy works.
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