Brain Games: Part II

In Part I, I discussed the exciting medical innovations that brain-computer interface technology is bringing about.¹ This time, I wanted to focus on something a bit more-well, fun! Say hello to the games of the future-ones the nerdy kids might stand a chance of winning.

There are currently three companies-Vivifeye, Emotiv and NeuroSky-developing EEG-based game platforms. Both Emotiv and NeuroSky have developed wireless headsets that they then license to game developers for use. From what I could find after some serious researching, only NeuroSky has been really successful at signing on big game developers to integrate its headset into new games. This might be due to the difference in headset design. Traditional medical EEG caps use conduction gel under about 19 electrodes placed all over the scalp. Emotiv's headset reduces that number to 10, but the NeuroSky MindSet, which looks just like a phone headset with the microphone attached to your forehead, only requires a single, dry electrode to capture readings. Less mess equals more fun.

So how does it work? Well, NeuroSky seems to guard its proprietary Attention & Meditation eSense^TM algorithms pretty closely, but a basic understanding of EEG and human brainwaves (and a little reading between the lines) can reveal a lot. Normal brainwave frequency ranges from below 3 Hz (during slow-wave sleep) up to 30 Hz when fully alert. The waves are categorized as follows: delta (< 3 Hz), theta (4-7 Hz), alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (12-30 Hz). An alert and active brain produces frequencies in the beta range. When relaxed, these frequencies drop into the alpha or theta range and even into delta during sleep. Meditation studies including Tibetan monks have shown increased activity in the theta and alpha range too.² Now it's not hard to guess how NeuroSky's headset translates your brainwave frequencies into Attention and Meditation meters.  Vivifeye declares upfront that it measures alpha and theta brainwaves for Mindball. 

Luckily, "revealing" how the headset works doesn't make its effects any less cool. Based on these attention and meditation states, you can move objects. That's right---telekinesis exists!  In Judecca, NeuroSky and Square Enix's proof-of-concept PC game, you use your psychic abilities, seen as a glowing red eye on your avatar's hand, to fight zombies.Your powers can lift, drop, push, pull and "pyro" (my nickname for the setting-objects-on-fire mode). Apparently, NeuroSky wants to train the next generation of Carries-or Luke Skywalkers.

Telekinesis isn't just limited to the digital world. Meet the Force Trainer, part of the Uncle Milton's Star Wars Science series. By relaxing and focusing "the force" (think alpha or theta), you can levitate a ball within a tube. This may be targeted at 7-10 year-old boys, but honestly, I can imagine this toy entertaining adults for hours. Mattel also employs a thought-controlled fan to levitate balls for its game, Mindflex. Players raise and lower a ball through an obstacle course by alternately concentrating and relaxing.In Vivifeye's Mindball, you can even pit your brainwaves against another person's in a table-top battle to move a ball toward your opponent's goal. Watch Regis and Kelly duke it out!  

The prices for this technology aren't terrible either. Mindflex is available for preorder at $80 will ship Oct 1^st this year³, and The Force Trainer comes out Sept 30^th, rumored to be priced between $90-100. Vivifeye sells MindBall as a party game for £11,365 (~$18 651) or £595 (~$976) for a one-day rental. If you really want to get your hands on a MindSet, NeuroSky sells them directly to gamers with "The Adventures of Neuroboy," and to corporate developers. They also market to amateur researchers and big research institutions. Imagine that as part of your science fair project.

¹ And these are changing all the time. In the latest study, researchers are improving training outcomes by targeting specific, stationary neurons instead of resetting the algorithm everyday: 

Ganguly K, Carmena JM (2009) Emergence of a Stable Cortical Map for Neuroprosthetic Control. PLoS Biol 7(7): e1000153. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000153.

Blakeslee, Sandra. "Researchers Train Minds to Move Matter." The New York Times. July 20, 2009.

² Cahn, BR and J Polich. 2006. Meditation states and traits: EEG, ERP, and neuroimaging studies. Psychological bulletin. 132(2):180-211  doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.132.2.180 

³ Christen da Costa. "Mattel Mindflex Game Now Available For Preorder (video)." Gadget Review. May 24th, 2009.

Image credits: NeuroSky