Design & Production
Telepathy in Games
Bringing Brain-Computer Interface Technology to Consumers
B
rainwaves enhance the overall gaming experience with a decidedly visceral accent. When combined with traditional game-play controls, brainwave data creates a most complete player experience. Casual game developers incorporating brainwaves into their designs are not only advancing entertainment applications but also creating education and healing benefits.
By David Westendorf David Westendorf is a gadget geek extraordinaire. During a stay extended by the Iceland volcano, he used his iPad in Europe to negotiate free drinks. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, he has worked for Kodak, PocketScience and Palm. At Palm, he ran the mobile app developer program as GM of Palm.Net. He is NeuroSky’s Vice President of Marketing and Developer Relations. David can be reached at david.westendorf@casualconnect.org.
Brain-Computer Interface Technology (BCI) Brainwave patterns of varying frequencies combine to form electrical signals detectable on the scalp; output is known as electroencephalogram, or EEG. Brain-computer interface technology, or BCI, senses brainwaves and processes them to power the user-interfaces of computers, mobile devices and Brain-computer interface video games. NeuroSky has called upon a trove of academic research to pioneer technology for broad use technology, or BCI, senses in consumer products, educational electronics and massmarket medical devices. Technologies from NeuroSky are brainwaves and processes instrumental in the effort to maintain, heal and entertain this most vital of human organs. them to power the userThe last century of neuroscience research greatly increased our medical understanding of the brain and interfaces of computers, the subtle but dynamic energy it emits. Long a focus of human interest, neurological research in the early 1900s mobile devices and video shed much light on our gray matter in determining that our brains’ cells, called neurons, exert small amounts of games. electrical activity when activated. Brainwave sensors eventually evolved from a single metal contact to an elaborate system of up to 256 sensors used today. Modern medical EEG tools use advanced materials, woven into a cap that envelops a patient’s entire head, bonding the electrical contacts using a thick medical paste. In order to be effective, medical EEG requires patients to lie flat, in dark rooms where all light and other interference are removed. Later research discovered that electrical activity correlates with different emotional moods, such as anger, and mental states, such as sleep. Brainwaves are analog signals. After sensing the electrical signal, a series of filters eliminate clutter such as environmental electricity from appliances, computers, etc. Muscle movement and other noise is also removed. Signal processors convert analog to digital, creating the interface for computers. The digital signal can be ingested in a “raw” state, broken into defined ranges such as alpha, beta, delta, etc., or it can be obtained through proprietary algorithms. Bringing BCI to Gaming For the first time, BCI is inexpensive enough to offer mass-market appeal to the gaming market. Unlike traditional medical hardware, gaming NeuroSky BCI is easy to use, non-invasive, mobile—and it is dramatically less costly besides. The NeuroSky Mindset is a state-of-the-art BCI + multimedia headset. For $199, it offers a single, dry sensor (which rests on the forehead), Bluetooth audio and voice. It’s important to note that BCI centers on brainwaves, not thoughts. Moreover, brain-enhanced gaming does not replace the wonderful advances in existing game controls; it makes them better. The notably difficult-to-use Power Glove shows what happens when technology is shoehorned into gaming. In contrast, BCI adds a layer of depth with both voluntary mechanisms to directly influence game command and involuntary mechanisms to change a variety of game-play and landscape elements. Today, NeuroSky has game control algorithms using both brain (EEG) and muscle (EMG). These include the degree to which the user pays “attention,” how the player finds a state of “relaxation,” and even how a player “blinks.” Comparison algorithms can combine the above across multiple players to determine the level of similarity between their brainwave data. More control algorithms are under development both internally and with partners.
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Casual Connect Summer 2010