Playing games with your mind?.......

Can you imagine playing your favourite video games by using nothing more than your mind?.....well now thanks to NeuroSky this is going to be made possible. Willpower is set to replace fast fingers in a new video game in which players move characters through a headset that monitors their brain waves. California-based NeuroSky Inc. showed off the new headset — named Mindset — at the Tokyo Game Show 2008, the industry’s biggest exhibition which opened near the Japanese capital.

“We brought this to the game show as a new interface, a new platform for game creators,” said NeuroSky's managing director Kikuo Ito Children’s games using the system will hit the US market next year, Ito said.
“We are exploring the use of brain waves in the game industry because games are fun and so close to people,” he said.
“Once people get used to the idea of using brain waves for various applications, I hope we will see various products using this technology,” he said.

By using  the Neurons that comprise the brain work on electrical impulses known as brainwaves. The last century of neurological research has demonstrated that brainwaves of different wavelengths can be indicative of unique emotional and mental states, like a focused awareness, a meditative state, or drowsiness.
Brainwaves have been used in medical research and therapy for years.Now  NeuroSky is finally introducing it to the consumer world.

NeuroSky Inc. has developed a non-invasive, dry, bio-sensor family of products that capture the electrical waves generated by neurological activity and eye movements and translate mental state information into digital signals for simple Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI). Our wearable technology unlocks worlds of new applications in consumer electronics, health, wellness, safety, education, training, market research and a host of many more.

ThinkGear-EM (Module)

The ThinkGear-EM provides the newest and most powerful EEG-based features for consumer and industrial applications.
Based upon the original ThinkGear platform, which operates in conjunction with dry electrodes, NeuroSky's second generation ThinkGear-EM has added important enhancements such as lower power consumption, embedded technology features, noise reduction improvements and Bluetooth compatibility.
ThinkGear-EM also offers cost and wearability improvements from its earlier cousin due to better optimization of components and physical size reductions.

Esense-EM   (Algorithm Library)

The eSense-EM translates the brainwave signals (EEG) into different mental state levels, for example, Attention and Meditation..
These mental "algorithms" must be tested over a wide population, and under different environmental conditions, to work across a  wide spectrum of individuals and locations. The eSense-EM is delivered fully-embedded within the 3VThinkGear-EM. The results of the eSense-EM Library are passed through the output data stream of the ThinkGear-EM to the end-platform.

MindKit-EM   (SDK: Software Development Kit)

The MindKit-EM is NeuroSky's second generation development tool.
MindKit-EM is a PC-based development platform used to extract, filter and amplify brainwave (EEG) signals and convert that information into digital mental state outputs for Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) applications. MindKit-EM can be used for monitoring and analysis of human brainwaves, mental training and for the development of consumer and industrial end-applications. The EEG signals read by MindKit-EM detect on the forehead via point Fp1 (electrode placement system by the International Federation in Encephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology). A unique difference from NeuroSky's original MindKit is that MindKit-EM is a fully-embedded system using the 3V EM (Embedded) family of components (ThinkGear-EM, eSense-EM).

MindBuilder-EM   (Neural Headset)

The MindBuilder-EM is a development neural headset sold within the framework of a MindKit-EM SDK development license.
The MindBuilder-EM is included as a component of the MindKit-EM SDK, but is also sold in separate form, in additional quantities, to MindKit-EM licensees who support multiple developers. There were several improvements to the MindBuilder-EM over its predecessor, the MindVisor. The MindBuilder-EM has eliminated the ear-clips associated with the MindVisor, and has replaced the visor style with a simpler headset for added comfort. The MindBuilder-EM incorporates the ThinkGear-EM module, for a fully-embedded headset solution, and supports a wireless, Bluetooth option for improved mobility in demonstrations.

MindSet  (Commercial Neural Headset)

The MindSet is the first commercially available, "consumer-ready", brainwave-controlled headset for the mass consumer market.
The headset reads and interprets different mental states associated with the headset user and transmits that information wirelessly to a variety of platforms. Utilizing NeuroSky's fully-embedded, ThinkGear-EM technology, which manages the brainwave acquisition and interpretation chores,
the MindSet communicates equally well with game consoles, PC's and mobile platforms, including cell phones. The MindSet is currently available to NeuroSky's OEM customers.

NeuroSky said this game operates in conjunction with Windows PC machines and features its commercial headset, MindSet.
This headset is said to be capable of working with a variety of gaming platforms and that it looks much like regular headphones.

No specific word was said on when this technical demonstration might actually make it to your video game consoles. When, and if, it does, we'll all begin to look like the Borg we are fighting against in the various Star Trek games.
In distance learning courses, for example, teachers could monitor whether students were attentive, Ito said.
Train drivers and motorists could use it to judge their stress levels and alertness, Ito added.
Japan’s Keio University put similar technology to use this year to let a paralysed man take a virtual stroll on the popular Second Life website, with the machine reading what he wanted to do with his immobile legs.

NeuroSky said the Mindset could help people with other types of disabilities.

“For people with difficulty speaking, this can be a useful tool for communication,” Ito said.

Ito was hopeful that the technology would eventually go on sale outside the United States. Prices have not been announced.
The Mindset monitors whether the player is focused or relaxed and accordingly moves the character on a personal computer.