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Brain-wave reading electrode headsets? Putting the "non" in science-nonfiction:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7254078.stm

$300, Christmas 2008.

Fascinating. Not necessarily useful, but fascinating. I'm not sure if I can shake the budget for that or not, but it would be pretty cool.

This has great potential, medically and therapeutically...
As far as gaming...it's a bit creepy...
<<;

:?

Never mind. Wrong demographic, apparently.

*blink* I missed the last bit of the article. I read through all the stuff on reading expressions and some of the emotions, and then I couldn't figure out a reasonable application. But they do actually mention being able to read more interactive responses. (Hey, I'm at work, sometimes I have to just skim things, and Flash and PHP development aren't always conducive to my thinking of clever applications for other technologies.)

Think what this could do the Star Wars games. Force powers are reflexive mental actions (push and pull come easy to mind since they mention them, but jump, speed, and lightning wouldn't be too tough to adapt. And rather than basing your light/dark side alignment according to easily gamed stupid choices during character interaction, it bases it on the emotions you feel as you make actions and choices. Thus producing a ton more Dark Jedi than ever before. :P That's kind of scary when you think about it.

It'd make City of Heroes a little more fun to play, since my big complaint is that, unlike WoW, the emotes are very awkward and you can't hold a conversation during the game. By tying the emotes to mental conditions, that gives at least some amount of easy feedback into the game. Or instant messaging. There are a lot of possibilities, if the technology ends up actually being widely adopted.

Hehe, well, if you click the link right under the picture of the lady with her hands on the screen (it says "Brainwaves controlling a video game" right next to a square that says "|> Watch") there's a video of someone demonstrating the technology.

The guy using the headset in the video lifts a rock in the game using just his thoughts.

That's a whole new dimension for games. It's not just can you twitch fast enough, track a target, press a button... it's can you think! The last sentence of the article is especially important, and correct. This type of technology will help usher in a new era where there will be an actual virtual reality. A realm parallel to our own that runs on our thoughts and operates at digital speeds. Where limitations of the body, genetics, background... they're completely forgotten in favor of opportunities limited solely on man's creativity.

I have no doubt that this technology will become widely adopted; it is the next phase in human/machine interactions.

Creepy? Novelty? No, not at all. It is the future, and it's wonderful.

This is quite possibly the best things to happen to games since Pong. Soon as I get a job, gonna set aside a certain amount per month just for this.

I'll wait for them to prove its capable of doing everything well or till the next generation of the tech comes out - hopefully including its own dual screen eye wear (so it will have real depth and you wont have to use a monitor). If you have that- you dont even need a computer to have a monitor- so laptops could be even smaller- and their length wont matter to keep the monitor size (since most now use a 12-17 inch monitor - you wont need it- just the keyboard- and you wont need that if they perfect either voice typing and or laser keyboards OR overlay keyboards - using a semi transparent or a camera - you could use a virtual keyboard- but i dont know how close tech is to actually making that).

Do I sense another virtual boy?

They made this a long time ago in japan. It reads and interprets brainwaves by measuring the signals the brains sends and translates it into an action using certain and secret algorithms.

Oh god, that thing was a total flop.

I still want one.

Must be pretty hard to control (In My Case)
My Mind Goes all over the place....

Too Short Attention Span :(

that is some crazy tech

I see..a mmorpg about psychics and huge virtual psychic wars being fought using the power of the gamers mind. Whoaw..I better not be an old geezer when that stuff hits the market!