By Alan Wang
Jan. 17 - KGO - Imagine controlling your electronic appliances, tools or toys by simply using your mind. Well that's the future and a Silicon Valley company is leading the way.
The patented device created by Neurosky in Silicon Valley, uses a mathematic secret that turns brain waves into commands.
Stanley Yang, Neurosky CEO: "We essentially created a bunch of different algorithms. One for each emotion, for example the attention algorithm."
Interfaced with a video game, you place the cursor on an object. A strong "attention" reading enables you to push or pull objects.
A strong "meditation" reading enables you to levitate objects.
You have to practice gauging your level of concentration, also finding ways to disrupt it.
Neurosky simply builds the brain wave-reading component. Other companies like Ologic apply it to their products like a robot.
Ted Larson, Ologic CEO: "What we were really the most excited about is you can pretty much control any mechanical system using their technology. "
Eventually Ologic wants to use Neurosky's technology to build thought-controlled robots for the handicapped and elderly and NASA wants to create robots to help astronauts whose gloves are too bulky to work a joy stick or hold tools.
The device can also read neuron pulses, so a blink of your left or right eye can create a command.
Neurosky says it will only add about $15 to the consumer product and by next year, you may already see video games, toys and even cell phones controlled by your brain waves.
There's also a brief video to go with it. My brother actually worked on the team that built the headset they feature there, and he'll probably be on the bbs later today if anyone has any questions about the controller and how it works.
I'm so proud.
Stuart: The only problem is, I'm losing track of which universe I'm in.
You kinda look like Jesus. With a lightsaber.- Peregrin Toker
That was in Popular Mechanics Russia, December 2006.
Cool stuff. All hail the cyborg, the man-machine, the transhuman.
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Stas Bush wrote:That was in Popular Mechanics Russia, December 2006.
Cool stuff. All hail the cyborg, the man-machine, the transhuman.
The company is world-wide. The algorithims and technology come from Russia, the components come from Korea, and then we get to put it all together here in the USA. I say "we" because I'm on the headset design team.
Kind of neat will do wonders not only in the toys and games market but allows in the medical field for people that still have the use of their brains but not the bodys.
Excellent. I know this is short-sighted, selfish, and not the most important application, but I want to see this sort of thing developed to the point where impulses are intercepted en-route to the body, and used to drive an character in a video game. Better yet if they can reverse the process and override sensory perception as well.
But then what happens if the game crashes and you're inside?
"As James ascended the spiral staircase towards the tower in a futile attempt to escape his tormentors, he pondered the irony of being cornered in a circular room."
KrauserKrauser wrote:The next step is to make it into a ring, make it green.....
By Green Lantern's Light!
What? How did we jump from mental control of machines to will-based telekinesis?
"As James ascended the spiral staircase towards the tower in a futile attempt to escape his tormentors, he pondered the irony of being cornered in a circular room."
Definatly would be interesting to play video games using this.
Zor
HAIL ZOR!WE'LL BLOW UP THE OCEAN!
Heros of Cybertron-HAB-Keeper of the Vicious pit of Allosauruses-King Leighton-I, United Kingdom of Zoria: SD.net World/Tsar Mikhail-I of the Red Tsardom: SD.net Kingdoms WHEN ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE ON EARTH, ALL EARTH BREAKS LOOSE ON HELL Terran Sphere The Art of Zor
Excellent. Now all we need is a similar system for input which feeds sensory data directly to the brain instead of a monitor screen. Then we could have the Matrix and live out all our fantasies like being a Jedi, driving a battlemech etc.
I have to tell you something everything I wrote above is a lie.
Sarevok wrote:Then we could have the Matrix and live out all our fantasies like being a Jedi, driving a battlemech etc.
But, as I asked above, what would happen if the game crashed while we were inside?
"As James ascended the spiral staircase towards the tower in a futile attempt to escape his tormentors, he pondered the irony of being cornered in a circular room."
Sarevok wrote:Then we could have the Matrix and live out all our fantasies like being a Jedi, driving a battlemech etc.
But, as I asked above, what would happen if the game crashed while we were inside?
Likely nothing more serious than the image/sounds/etc being locked up until the system is disconnected or rebooted.
Might get a bit of a zing if the system's poorly designed, but honestly, the Matrix was fucking stupid. Allowing yourself to be *that* immersed into a system is asking for fucking trouble.
I remember something like this on a show from when I was a kid, called 'Beyond 2000'. It was less developed - it just had a head frame that activated a nearby lightbulb when you 'relaxed'. I've always wondered when something like that would become commercial.
Kodiak wrote:
Stas Bush wrote:That was in Popular Mechanics Russia, December 2006.
Cool stuff. All hail the cyborg, the man-machine, the transhuman.
The company is world-wide. The algorithims and technology come from Russia, the components come from Korea, and then we get to put it all together here in the USA. I say "we" because I'm on the headset design team.
Hi and welcome. Am I correct in thinking that this isn't a scifi 'does whatever you will it to' interface, but instead like selecting a limited number of discrete inputs (i.e. one for each 'emotion'), like pushing the buttons on a game controller?
Robert Gilruth to Max Faget on the Apollo program: “Max, we’re going to go back there one day, and when we do, they’re going to find out how tough it is.”
Magus wrote:
But, as I asked above, what would happen if the game crashed while we were inside?
Likely nothing more serious than the image/sounds/etc being locked up until the system is disconnected or rebooted.
Well sure - but current computer games will occasionally just hang - and you have to reset the system manually. Would you need a spotter for when you play your games so they can restart the system if something goes wrong?
Winston Blake wrote:Am I correct in thinking that this isn't a scifi 'does whatever you will it to' interface, but instead like selecting a limited number of discrete inputs (i.e. one for each 'emotion'), like pushing the buttons on a game controller?
Yes, but there's also the ability to track neuron pulses - thus reading signals for body movement. The current speculation is the feasibility of temporarily blocking such pulses' access to the body, and instead rerouting them to the computer - effectively allowing you to control a digital double of yourself as easily as second nature.
"As James ascended the spiral staircase towards the tower in a futile attempt to escape his tormentors, he pondered the irony of being cornered in a circular room."
Winston Blake wrote:Am I correct in thinking that this isn't a scifi 'does whatever you will it to' interface, but instead like selecting a limited number of discrete inputs (i.e. one for each 'emotion'), like pushing the buttons on a game controller?
Yes, but there's also the ability to track neuron pulses - thus reading signals for body movement. The current speculation is the feasibility of temporarily blocking such pulses' access to the body, and instead rerouting them to the computer - effectively allowing you to control a digital double of yourself as easily as second nature.[/quote]
Well, ignoring the difficulty of doing something like that, why not have a feedback system, that can only inhibit the signals if the software confirms that they have been processed? If it hangs, the input system won't get any feedback, so it will not inhibit anything.
"Nippon ichi, bitches! Boing-boing." Mai smote the demonic fires of heck...
Winston Blake wrote:Am I correct in thinking that this isn't a scifi 'does whatever you will it to' interface, but instead like selecting a limited number of discrete inputs (i.e. one for each 'emotion'), like pushing the buttons on a game controller?
Yes, but there's also the ability to track neuron pulses - thus reading signals for body movement. The current speculation is the feasibility of temporarily blocking such pulses' access to the body, and instead rerouting them to the computer - effectively allowing you to control a digital double of yourself as easily as second nature.
Well, ignoring the difficulty of doing something like that, why not have a feedback system, that can only inhibit the signals if the software confirms that they have been processed? If it hangs, the input system won't get any feedback, so it will not inhibit anything.[/quote]
So, let me start off by saying that this system has nothing to do with body movement. What the sensors CAN do is monitor your emotional state as well as eye-muscle movement to give outputs of 4 different states:
Anxiety
Concentration
Meditation
Drowsiness
AFAIK there is no technology which "blocks" nerve impulses to one's limbs, however there is an institute in Chicago which uses the impulses from amputees to manipulate prosthetics (if you search CNN's website for "bionic arm" you'll find it). This decive is different in that it monitors conscious thought. With bionic systems, you merely "move" your arm and the prosthesis responds. With the Neurosky system you concentrate on moving a particular object and when your brain-waves reach a threshold the system gives a desired output. I hope that clears up any confusion.
May I ask how the system compares to other mind-control technology analogues like BrainGate, BCI helmets, the Fraunhoffer machine presented at CEBIT. I know that the guys who built a mind-control machine for the wheelchair control have reached a 96% percent precision in command pattern recognition (I think they were from Barcelona) and it was still considered not good enough, since every 30 commands there can be an error, which isn't that fatal in a computer simulation but extremely dangerous on a wheelchair.
Is Neuroski different from BCI technology, or is it the same technological principle?
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Lì paludi, minacce, cecchini coi fucili, documenti, file notturne e clandestini
Qui incontri, lotte, passi sincronizzati, colori, capannelli non autorizzati,
Uccelli migratori, reti, informazioni, piazze di Tutti i like pazze di passioni...
...La tranquillità è importante ma la libertà è tutto!
The device can also read neuron pulses, so a blink of your left or right eye can create a command.
The video game applications are interesting (and I seem to recall Battletech Elementals using blink input), but my first thought was replacing 'click' with 'blink' in all OS documentaion.
"Ok, now double left blink to open the file or right blink then left blink 'Properties.'"
Rekkon wrote:The video game applications are interesting (and I seem to recall Battletech Elementals using blink input), but my first thought was replacing 'click' with 'blink' in all OS documentaion.
"Ok, now double left blink to open the file or right blink then left blink 'Properties.'"
Hah, I assume you're joking, but if not, that'd be quite the messy setup. Imagine all the menu bars that would come up from time to time when your eyes blink on their own for moisture.
Kodiak wrote:
So, let me start off by saying that this system has nothing to do with body movement. What the sensors CAN do is monitor your emotional state as well as eye-muscle movement to give outputs of 4 different states:
Ah. I read eye-muscle movement and assumed the same principle could be applied to all muscle movement. An erroneous assumption, I suppose.
"As James ascended the spiral staircase towards the tower in a futile attempt to escape his tormentors, he pondered the irony of being cornered in a circular room."
Stas Bush wrote:May I ask how the system compares to other mind-control technology analogues like BrainGate, BCI helmets, the Fraunhoffer machine presented at CEBIT. I know that the guys who built a mind-control machine for the wheelchair control have reached a 96% percent precision in command pattern recognition (I think they were from Barcelona) and it was still considered not good enough, since every 30 commands there can be an error, which isn't that fatal in a computer simulation but extremely dangerous on a wheelchair.
Is Neuroski different from BCI technology, or is it the same technological principle?
Neurosky is based on BCI (Brain Controlled Interface) technology. What's different about Neurosky is that there product is totally non-invasive (requires no surgery) and that it regulates emotional response. They are also developing an EOG (electro-oculargram0 headset which would allow for directional control with eye movement, but right now the EEG (electro encephalogram) interface is top-priority. You can expect to see these on the shelves within 1-2 years.
