Samsung's got no shortage of alternate control methods up its sleeve. You've got your eye scroll and your air gestures, but how about full on mind-control? Samsung's messing with it, but it probably won't be coming to consumer devices very soon. Probably.
In conjunction with researchers at the University of Texas, Samsung has been whipping up a system that allows a user to control a Galaxy Note 10.1 with brain-power alone. It's not quite stylish though; at the moment users have to wear a somewhat bulky and—let's face it—ugly hood of EEG sensors. But as inconvenient as that may seem, Samsung's prototype sensor hood is actually pretty advanced for its kind. It doesn't require any wet connections or setup, so it can just be thrown on in a matter of seconds.
In concert with the specialized interface designed to accept brainwave commands—which has users select an eyecon by staring at its flashing form—Samsung's hood managed accuracy of about 80 to 95 percent. The next step is to make it a little less obnoxious so that it can be worn throughout the day. If it does get better, it'll be targeted at the disabled and not your average Joe on the hunt for gimmicks. It's a valiant effort for a good cause but man, what does Samsung have against touching things? [MIT Technology Review via Engadget]