Playing Games With Your Mind!

[Mr.Switchblade]

If you've been following the advancement of modern technology besides that of the iphone, you may have noticed that they have planned to put cranial controllers on the market within 4-5 years. Thats right, controllers that fit on your head, look ridiculous, but allow you to control what you see on a computer screen with your brainwaves. There are some great youtube videos of it, in addition to the NIA system which responds to your eye movements and brain waves. This stuff is pretty high tech, and though its still in the fledgling stages, one day we may see little teenagers with their minds plugged into TVs and PCs around the world. Just something to think about, your thoughts?
Cheers

 

[cherimoya]

i already find it terrifying to look up from my paper on the subway to see half the riders in the car watching little screens, psps or playing games on their phones, etc.

have you ever looked at someone staring into their phone? its like a romero movie. scares the shit outta me.

imagining someone doing the same thing with some gizmo stuck on their head...

ugh.

 

[superdance14]

It sounds good on paper but two things might happen. First, multiplayer becomes everyone thinking the phrase "Kill everything." Second, the controllers might infect our minds turning us into robots and enslaving mankind. You know that second one is a good premise for a game. Sneak around, dodge enemies and instead of killing, you rip the controllers off their heads allowing them to think again!

 

[Skalman]

The government will secretly implant devices in every single one of those which enables them to read our minds when active.
They see everything!

Stop looking at me like that...

 

[keptsimple]

Wasn't this the plot of a Star Trek: TNG episode where Data had to save everyone at the end? Actually, Data had to save everyone at the end of most episodes, so I guess I'm not really narrowing it down.

 

[dragontiers]

Wasn't this the plot of a Star Trek: TNG episode where Data had to save everyone at the end? Actually, Data had to save everyone at the end of most episodes, so I guess I'm not really narrowing it down.

I remember that episode. The game itself was ridiculously simple, but it caused the brain to release endorphins, which somehow got them addicted, and then implanted a subliminal message for them to "recruit" someone else. I remember how bad the games "graphics" were, especially when compared to the fact they had holodecks.

 

[jamesworkshop]

the NIA has been released at retail I would say it is already here maybe not completly perfected but certainly showing promise

 

[Theo Samaritan]

Didn't something similar end up helping towards Atari's bankruptcy?

 

[Flour]

http://exitmundi.nl/singularity.htm

 

[Strong Intelligent]

Halo will be better. No nostalgia here

Really though, I'm rather scared. I wont buy these things.

 

[keptsimple]

I remember that episode. The game itself was ridiculously simple, but it caused the brain to release endorphins, which somehow got them addicted, and then implanted a subliminal message for them to "recruit" someone else. I remember how bad the games "graphics" were, especially when compared to the fact they had holodecks.

Yeah. That episode used to freak me out as a kid. The sort of dramatic irony where the audience knows that one of the characters is being deceptive used to bother the shit out of me for some reason.

Looking back, though, that episode was classic TNG camp. It had all the necessary elements: Riker banging some alien floozy with some kind of weird forehead growth; bad special effects; Wesley Crusher being an annoying twit; and Data saving everyone's ass.

 

[9of9]

Ah yes, good ol' Emotiv.

Alas, they've pushed back the release date for the headsets. They were meant to be in shops in Q4 2008, but at some point the said 'screw that' and are now on an undetermined 2009 release date. Hrmm.

Frankly, the tech they're using seems a little suspect - it looks like even within the limited capabilities they're offering, the darned thing isn't even guaranteed to work on everyone. On the other hand, what they do already have is pretty cool, considering the sheer amount of technological limitations they've had to overcome.

But yeah, I'm looking forward to these things coming out. I've a feeling they're going to be more on the 'PowerGlove' side of the spectrum rather than 'Wiimote', but either way they ought to pave way for even better, more hi-rez peripherals of the same nature.

Then they need to hook up with these guys [http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16267-mindreading-software-could-record-your-dreams.html] for a product that will either be pant-wettingly awesome or pant-wettingly terrifying, depending which way you look at it.

 

[Nomad]

If you've been following the advancement of modern technology besides that of the iphone, you may have noticed that they have planned to put cranial controllers on the market within 4-5 years. Thats right, controllers that fit on your head, look ridiculous, but allow you to control what you see on a computer screen with your brainwaves. There are some great youtube videos of it, in addition to the NIA system which responds to your eye movements and brain waves. This stuff is pretty high tech, and though its still in the fledgling stages, one day we may see little teenagers with their minds plugged into TVs and PCs around the world. Just something to think about, your thoughts?
Cheers

Could you link me to one of those videos you spoke of? I couldn't really find anything substantial myself.

 

[SmilingKitsune]

Wouldn't they be a little unreliable? "Go left, shoot guy with gun...I wonder what I'll have for lunch?" 'bam' game over.

 

[Arrers]

I think they should concentrate on making better games with the technology we have, than taking this a risk sort of thing.

Didn't something similar end up helping towards Atari's bankruptcy?

I'm worried now.

 

[Kajt]

When regular controllers get replaced I'll stop playing games.

 

[Gamine]

Ehhhhhhh!!!

Naahh!!

I refuse to be Cyborged!!

 

[Skalman]

How long 'til society is like in Ghost in the Shell [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell]?
Cause that's where we're heading if you ask me.

Although that's not necessarily a bad thing, a full cyborg body á la GitS would be supremely awersome.

 

[9of9]

According to some research, we still have a few decades to go until we can entirely digitize brains [small][citation needed][/small].

 

[chunkydude84]

I'm down to being virtually lobotomized.