brainwaves

Moving objects with Mattel's brainwave-reading Mindflex

First off, let me say I've always wanted to make things move with my mind--at least, some small amount of levitation, like, say, lifting a car through the air like Yoda lifted Luke Skywalker's X-Wing. "Star Wars" has played no small part in that fantasy. Oh, wait, did I say fantasy?

Mattel is releasing a toy this holiday that actually lets people raise and lower things with their mind. Well, make that one thing: a blue foam ball.

Obviously, when Mattel reps called CNET asking for a meeting, we quickly ushered them in. We'd heard about this product at CES and in other applications in the past, including the Swedish Mindball (no, we're not making that up). But Mattel's desire to bring this to the masses is admirable, and as we were soon to find out, bizarre. Look above to see the somewhat embarrassing video if you have any doubts.

Like something dropped in out of a late-'70s science fiction movie, Mindflex comes in two parts: a stark white-and-blue plastic obstacle course for a series of small foam balls, and a strange wireless headset/headband. The parts were unloaded from a shopping bag here at our CNET Labs, and quickly assembled. The obstacle course looks almost like a future version of the old kinetic board game, Mouse Trap. Except, as we said, this one's mind-controlled.

Mattel's representatives showed how Mindflex worked with a demonstration before throwing me into amateur mind control, raising and lowering the blue ball through a series of plastic hoops and tunnels.

Mindflex announces the start of challenges (with a straight-from-Epcot robotic female voice), and then players can register their successful moves by pressing buttons on the front of the machine. A large knob turns the motorized fan around the circular track, carrying the ball around the mini-course.

The brain control part comes in when raising and lowering the ball (activating and deactivating the fan), which is all triggered via what the headset is reading from my little brain. To be specific, the control is done digitally: the headband senses concentration and relaxation, and raises and lowers the ball accordingly. Then, it was my turn. … Read more

You could be Professor X in 2010 with this Wii

Ever imagine having abilities like Professor X from the X-Men? Some envision at a day when a mind-control device will come one the market, and it'll take the shape of a Nintendo Wii console.

T3 believes that in a future iteration there will be a Wii headset which will use our brainwaves to control our onscreen characters. It would also feature an immersive in-ear headphone for the sound effects, and the Wiimote would be updated to having only one button to point and press.

Gaming via brainwave activity isn't a new or novel idea; Singapore Science Center organized … Read more

Harnessing brainwaves with solar power

With all the development of alternative energy today, it was bound to come to this: Introducing solar-powered brainwaves.

Well, not exactly. But this "electroencephalogram device" does use sunlight as well as body heat as a power source for a variety of functions, which researchers hope will include everything from playing video games to monitoring hospital patients, according to Dvice. The lightweight headset, developed by Belgian scientists at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center, tracks electrical impulses generated by thought or action.

There are many other systems in development to monitor brainwaves in a similar fashion, but this one is focused … Read more

This week in mind-reading

You've been thinking, "Hey, where are all the updates on mind-reading devices?" All the appropriate scientists already knew this, so they decided to give you what you want today.

Here's this week's mind-readers' digest.

Microsoft applies for mind-reading patent: According to this New Scientist blog post, Microsoft applied for a patent in August that would help the company figure out what people really think about its products. The technology in the patent application, titled "Using electroencephalograph signals for task classification and activity recognition," would read a user's brain states while testing Microsoft'… Read more

Stress busters are making us tense up

We can just hear the Enya track now.

Stress relievers--or, more accurate, products that claim to relieve stress--are nothing new, of course, but that doesn't seem to deter a steady stream of them from coming onto the market seemingly every few days. The latest goes by the sci-fi-sounding name "MindSpa," which we appropriately saw on SCI FI Tech.

Like so many other so-called stress busters, this one uses a combination of calming lights and other New Agey stuff to lull us into a state of relaxation. According to its Web site, "The frequencies of light … Read more

Gaming by brainwaves alone

It may look like a medieval torture device, but the headgear pictured here is designed for gaming, of all things. And if you're paranoid about EMFs eating away at your brain, avert your eyes from this item now.

Called "Project Epoc," this neuro-technology apparatus includes "sensors that tune into your brain's natural electric signals, detecting player thoughts, feelings and expression," according to Ubergizmo. It also connects to consoles and computers, supposedly allowing your thought pulses to influence if not control the game at hand. (We're not making this up.)

But if you're … Read more