Researchers at Emotiv have finally developed a brainwave-reading headset. They don’t even need batteries – currently being powered by either body heat or sunlight.
This gadget was already making news at 2007’s Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco.
But they also have another interesting application. Whilst able-bodied people may find this to be an entertaining gimmick for the moment, for heavily disabled people it can provide a new sense of freedom, allowing them to move around in and explore a virtual world. The same technology is also now being used to treat phantom limb syndrome.
This technology used to come at the cost of a rather dangerous operation that would remove part of the skull and insert a sensor to monitor brainwaves. Unfortunately, it also carried the very real risk of leaving the patient in a permanent vegetative state.
Now that the technology is non-intrusive (and has even been designed to look like headphones so you don’t stand out in a crowd) it may actually take off.
It’s almost certain to catch on better than the US military’s multi-million dollar “robotic pack mule”.
Tags: brainwave, controller, emotiv, gaming, robotic pack mule, Technology
June 13, 2008 at 8:00 pm |
The robotic mule is going on my Amazon wish list. Apart from lugging the shopping home, it could also serve as an ironing board. In fact, I reckon one of those legs could twist up to do the ironing and fold my clothes before taking them upstairs and putting them away. Genius. If Amazon doesn’t sell them, surely JML does?