HOLY SH*T!: Mind-Controlled Video Games…Really.

June 10, 2008 - 11:30 am By COED Staff

Emotiv

If you think the Wii is cool, this will make you crap your pants: A new headset device, created by Emotiv Systems, allows you to move objects, in a video game, using only you concentration.

No f**king way, right? Wrong. Apparently, these dudes used some monkey mind-games technology to make the coolest contraption to date. If this isn’t the raddest thing you hear today…well, then your life is better than mine.

Check out the details after the jump!

As NYTimes.com reports:

Put on the headset, made by Emotiv Systems in San Francisco, and when a giant boulder blocks the path in a game you are playing, you can levitate it — not by something as crude as a keystroke, but just by concentrating on raising it, said Tan Le, Emotiv’s president. The headset captures electrical signals when you concentrate; then the computer processes these signals and pairs a screen action with them, like lifting a stone or repairing a falling bridge.

In addition to reading brain waves, the device, dubbed Emotiv, also reads facial expressions and emotional responses, allowing you to control the emotions and reactions of your on-screen avatar.

The Emotiv, which is said to be available for $299 by Christmas, comes with a training program of 16 games, set on a mountain, where you “clear the mind,” and concentrate on an object for 30 or 40 seconds, training yourself to use only your mind to complete the task at hand. According to Emotiv’s research and development manager, Geoffrey Mackellar, “On the first or second attempt, you can lift it at will.”

Yeah, unless you can’t. According to Anton Nijholt, Dutch researcher that does work with EEG technology, “Not all people are able to display the mental activity necessary to move an object on a screen. Some people may not be able to imagine movement in a way that EEG can detect.”

So, I guess dumbasses won’t be able play with this fun toy. Well, at least they won’t be able to choke on one of the pieces, and get it banned for the rest of us.

[Pros to Video Gum for this one]

(image source: NYTimes.com)