Brain Computer Headset for Games

Gamers will soon be able to interact with the virtual world using their thoughts and emotions alone. A neuro-headset which interprets the interaction of neurons in the brain will go on sale later this year. It picks up electrical activity from the brain and sends wireless signals to a computer. The brain is made up of about 100 billion nerve cells, or neurons, which emit an electrical impulse when interacting. The headset implements a technology known as non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) to read the neural activity. Emotiv, a neuro-engineering company, creates a brain computer interface that reads electrical impulses in the brain and translates them into commands that a video game can accept and control the game dynamically. This is the first headset that doesn't require a large net of electrodes, or a technician to calibrate or operate it and does require gel on the scalp. This area of immersion and control could prove to be the breakthrough gaming has longed for.

The use of Electroencephalography in medical practice dates back almost 100 years but it is only since the 1970s that the procedure has been used to explore brain computer interfaces. The Epoc technology can be used to give authentic facial expressions to avatars of gamers in virtual worlds. For example, if the player smiles, winks, grimaces the headset can detect the expression and translate it to the avatar in game. It can also read emotions of players and translate those to the virtual world. The $299 headset has a gyroscope to detect movement and has wireless capabilities to communicate with a USB dongle plugged into a computer. The Emotiv said the headset could detects more than 30 different expressions, emotions and actions. They include excitement, meditation, tension and frustration; facial expressions such as smile, laugh, wink, shock (eyebrows raised), anger (eyebrows furrowed); and cognitive actions such as push, pull, lift, drop and rotate (on six different axis). Gamers are able to move objects in the world just by thinking of the action.

More information:

http://www.emotiv.com/

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