What researchers did to come to those conclusions is generate a "small electrical current in the brains of 14 healthy volunteers using scalp electrodes. The current increased the activity of normal beta waves." Bit freaky, but those folks volunteered for the research. What's truly freaky is this:

The current increased the activity of normal beta waves, and slowed the volunteers' reaction times by 10 percent.

So, how is all of this good news for Parkinson's patients? This study and result might actually lead to improvements on already existing "brain pacemaker" by using "oscillating current that more closely mimics normal brain waves, as opposed to constant brain stimulation." Those "brain pacemakers" help limit involuntary movements as well as improving on the ability to make voluntary ones. Here's hoping that this research will continue to improve the quality of life for those suffering from Parkinson's and similar degenerative disorders. [Discover]

This means both developers at large studios as well as dudes in their basement can make programs and games that do things with the data generated by the headset. And you generate data just by thinking a certain way.

What kind of stuff can these developers do? Well, for larger companies they can make this an additional controller to supplement their normal games, such as reloading just by concentrating or lifting boxes and "setting crap on fire." Independent developers can make weird one-off games that can really stretch the limits of what the Neurosky Mindset can read from your brain. Or porn games. [Neurosky]

Jesting aside, the work of the Neural Interfaces Technology Research & Optimization Lab at the University of Wisconsin is pretty sweet—especially if you've seen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and have had nightmares like I have of being "locked in" due to a brain injury of some kind. But where Jean-Dominique Bauby had to blink out his incredible novel from his hospital bed, this EEG-controlled interface, examples of which have existed for some time, would make things considerably easier to write your locked-in masterwork.

Something about pairing an EEG interface with Twitter though, bypassing every possible failsafe that might prevent you from oversharing your lunch with the world, makes a lot of sense. [NITRO Lab Blog]

Apparently, the people at Japan's Honda Research Institute had the same idea, because they've now partnered with ATR and Shimadzu Corp. to come up with a way to use your brain as a robot remote control.

Called BMI (Brain Machine Interface – not the acronym that tells you you're fat), the tech uses electroencephalography, which measures slight electrical currents, and near-infrared spectroscopy, which looks at brain blood flow. Putting the two together gives you up to 90% accurate robot control without the use of physical implants.

Unfortunately, you still have to strap yourself to this giant chair and ridiculous-looking cap that kind of makes you resemble Dark Helmet from Spaceballs. But one day, when your mobile minions appear suddenly in the horizon, wordlessly laying waste to your enemies with nary a peep from you... oh, how glorious a time it shall be. [Akihabara News]

For those in the dark, the Neurosky Mindset, is a gaming controller that monitors brainwaves, and uses those readings to carry out specific actions within a game. In demos, this includes sliding boxes, lifting objects, and setting crap on fire. It also doubles as a pair of Headphones with a bluetooth mic built-in.

So how well does it work? I didn't spend tons of time with the demo, but I thought it was pretty intuitive, and I was able to channel different types of mind focus into in-game action. When asked to relax in order to levitate an item, I consciously made myself "relax." Lo and behold, the car started flying in the air. "Concentration" occurs when you focus intently on one point on the screen. I wasn't the greatest at this.

The headset is pretty light and sits comfortably over your ears with the probe that rests on your forehead. This probe helps pickup brainwave signals, or "electrical potentials" to be exact. During calibration, the computer detects the type and magnitude of waves you generate in certain scenarios, then adjusts the sensitivity so that gameplay is achievable for everyone.

And to be clear, the Mindset isn't trying to replace standard gaming controls as they exist now. Rather, they're trying to add functionality that doesn't require further, more complex button combos, but intuitive hands-free gestures instead.

The Mindset will be available in July for roughly $200. Neurosky says they would like to partner up with companies and developers down the road (they're launching with Toshiba in Japan), but want to get the hardware out there so that apps can start showing up in the marketplace.

Outside of the PC gaming world, Neurosky says they're working on putting the same technology into cars, where the seats can detect how you're feeling and predict what you need (music, heater, A/C, answering in-car phone). They're also working with medical groups and companies to test disorders like ADD and Cerebral Palsy, and will even produce a DS memory game using a custom headset later this year.

As it stands now, the sticking point with the Neurosky Mindset is that it will depend on third-party developer support to really get off the ground. It won't add new functionality to old games, nor will they be developing their own apps. But they will have an SDK ready over the summer so that people can program their own apps around the device. [Neurosky]

NeuroSky® and Toshiba® to Launch Brainwave-Reading Headset for PCs

San Jose, California (March 26, 2009) – Toshiba, Inc., a leading manufacturer of personal computer (PC) equipment, and NeuroSky, Inc., a Brain-Computer-Interface (BCI) technology company, today announced the launch of a jointly-developed brainwave-based advance headset that operates with most PC products.

The MindSet™ wireless Bluetooth® headset features brainwave-reading and mental-state-translational technology from NeuroSky, Inc., a Silicon Valley company. With earlier NeuroSky partner announcements in the toy (Uncle Milton Force Trainer™, under a Lucas Licensing deal) and video gaming industries (Square Enix Judecca™), the Toshiba-NeuroSky product launch represents the first BCI peripheral directed to mainstream PC users.

"The joint development effort between Toshiba and NeuroSky is a historic step into fusing brainwave-enabled peripherals into the mass market of computer users," stated Hitoshi Tokuda, General Manager of the PC Options Marketing Division at Toshiba.

Stanley Yang, CEO of NeuroSky, considers this announcement a key milestone for both companies. "This Toshiba and NeuroSky partnership is an exciting step towards revolutionizing the way people interact with computers."

Game Developers Conference

NeuroSky will be demonstrating the MindSet along with a variety of partner products at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in booth #6402, North Hall, Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA, on March 23-27.

How MindSet Works

The MindSet headset resembles a pair of headphones with one distinct difference-a single electrode-fitted arm that contacts with the user's forehead. The electrode reads the electrical potentials found on the skin's surface, which are induced by the neuron activity that occurs in the frontal lobe of the user's brain. Various "mental states" of the users-for example, their level of focus and relaxation-can be deciphered from the brainwave patterns. That information can be passed to a variety of PC-based applications for entertainment, health, wellness, education, and training purposes.

Pricing and Availability

The MindSet may now be pre-ordered by consumers, application developers and researchers on the NeuroSky website (www.NeuroSky.com).

The headset will be available to order online under the NeuroSky brand for U.S. residents on June 1, 2009, and roll out to select international markets later this year. MindSet will be priced at $199 (MSRP) and will be accompanied by two demonstration games, Brainwave Visualizer™ and The Adventures of NeuroBoy™. Alternative developer programs will continue to be available on a worldwide basis through NeuroSky.

Both consumers and developers will be offered further incentives with this summer's launch of the NeuroSky Application Store, a portal of downloadable, third-party applications created by the NeuroSky Developer Network.
Begin harnessing the power of your mind with the NeuroSky MindSet headset. This Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) turns your thoughts into actions, unlocking new worlds of interactivity. By measuring your brain waves, the headset can send messages to your computer-allowing you to control the computer with your thoughts. The NeuroSky MindSet can be paired with video games, research devices or a number of other tools for an enhanced user experience.

New applications are coming soon, so get your Mindset to begin developing your mind power.

* The MindSet reports the wearer's mental state in the form of NeuroSky's proprietary Attention and Meditation eSense algorithms.
* Captures brainwave signals from 0-30Hz.
* Providing information on a user's Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma EEG band power levels
* Features Bluetooth microphone input and stereo audio output capabilities.

Also included:

* Instructional videos and detailed documentation
* "NeuroBoy," - a game demo and example environment that highlights different ways to implement NeuroSky's brainwave algorithms. In the game, you play as NeuroBoy, a gifted kid with mental super powers. Float, push, burn, and interact with the world using your mental might.
* Brainwave Visualizer and NeuroSky's demonstration tools - The Brainwave Visualizer paints brainwave activity dynamically displaying the information in an artistic and vibrant manner. With the additional NeuroTech R&D Kit, users can perform their own brainwave research, or develop their own software and hardware applications to interact with, and take advantage of all the MindSet's capabilities.

System Requirements:

* Windows Vista Preferred
* 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo or Equivalent Processor
* 1GB Memory
* DirectX 10
* 256MB 3D Graphics Card for Games/Demonstrations

Mind Flex is a game in which the participant wears a headset that scans brainwaves with the hopes of controlling a mousetrap-like board. If the user can concentrate hard enough, they can activate a fan that will push a ball through a series of hoops. So the end product, on sale later this year for $80, is really taking a simple technological concept (brain activity) and skinning it with a complicated-looking function (fans, balls, hoops, circles of fire, etc). But much like a similar game called Brainball, it's still probably a parlor trick that excites a crowd. [Telegraph via gadgetreview]

Though the system is made up of several parts right now, NeuroSky plans on integrating everything into a small chip in the near future. I hope the final version of this product includes a brain inebriation detector. Otherwise, I pray for all of us cellphone users already prone to drunk dialing. [Tech On]

A brainwave measuring technology like electroencephalography records your thoughts, and a speech recognition system would decode the signals into words. The words would then be sent to the receiver using a different system "pointed in their direction." Presumably this is some form of radio, but since it's basically an EEG reading, one could imagine it being sent over the internet or via cellphone. Might even help you cut down on your minutes, but don't let your thoughts wander while you're talking to your girlfriend.

The scientists say that such a system will require a ton of training and will only send very specific messages at first, but over time the system will improve. This sounds like a pretty revolutionary step in communication, and one that will likely lead to many embarrassing results if it is every widely implemented. Would it be worth it to you to read everyone's thoughts if everyone could read yours? [Physorg via KurzweilAI]

A US company has come up with a headset that reads your brainwaves—and they plan on marketing it to gamers. NeuroSky's prototype measures a person's baseline brain-wave activity, including signals that relate to concentration, relaxation and anxiety. So, if you're playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour and you lose concentration, you could find your shot buried in the rough if you fail to keep your Zen-like concentration.

The company has already developed a version based on Star Wars. Don the Darth Vader helmet, which contains a sensor that reads the brain's signals and, if you concentrate, your lightsaber remains illuminated. Start thinking about your girlfriend dressed as Princess Leia, with Danish Pastries over her—oops—and you lose the Force, Luke. The headset is expected to go into production later this year and could cost as little as $20. – Ad Dugdale

[Yahoo via The Raw Feed]

Now we've seen low-frequency sounds send someone into convulsions, but are also aware that 50% of the time, the placebo effect is responsible for the effects of any drug or technique. Now if you'll excuse us, we're going off to try a few of these.

Hack Your Brain with an iPod [forevergeek via digg]