Emotiv Development Kit

Kato

I ran a search on this and it didn't come up with anything so excuse me if this has already been talked about and knowing PA...I'm sure it has been.

What did you all think of this though? It can't be as good as they say. If it was, then don't you think this would be in the hands of the gov't or something like that?

Their website: http://www.emotiv.com/2_0/2_1.htm

Info stolen from Gamasutra, but this was on plenty of site:

Representatives from start-up company Emotiv Systems, headed by ex-Xbox evangelist Ed Fries, have released details of the company’s first product: a helmet which can detect dozens of thoughts and emotions and correspond them to specific in-game actions.

The “Project Epoc” headset looks similar to a bicycle helmet and uses technology similar to that employed in the medical industry for electroencephalography. Emotiv claim that games designed using the Emotiv Development Kit (EDK) could allow players to move objects on screen simply by thinking about the actions, with the device apparently able to distinguish between thoughts such as “push”, “pull” and “spin”.

The EDK connects the headset to three different software programs, with the Expressiv application analyzing a player’s facial expressions. Affectiv measures emotional states and Cognitiv detects conscious thoughts.

No pricing for the EDK has yet been announced, but the company claims the headset will be available to consumers in 2008. Although the technology will be initially aimed at the games industry Emotiv also plan to sell variations for use in medicine, security, market research, accessibility design and interactive televison.

“Computer games have evolved dramatically, but the way players interface with a game has remained more or less constant. Innovations in this field have been extremely successful but few and far between,” said Fries, board director of Emotiv. “Brain computer interface technology presents an opportunity to revolutionize the gaming experience. Emotiv’s work signifies a real breakthrough in the space and, for the first time, makes it possible to use human thoughts and emotions to influence and enhance the gaming experience.”

What's the deal with this and did anyone ever talk about the closed door screenings at GDC?

Kato

My brother made a big post on this on one of my websites...here are his thoughts.

Never trust marketing...

Look, the idea is fascinating, and one day it may come to pass. Bur right now? I'm gonna be Mr. Buzzkill here & tell you that I would be astonished, flabbergasted, and stunned if this product could do even half, no, even a third, no even 1% of what they're claiming. Why?

Those 'sensors' have to be just electrodes that are picking up on the electrical activity from the brain. With this kind of set-up, as well as the limited number of electrode contacts they have in their system, they're only going to be picking up gross... nay, monumental changes in electrical activity in your brain. All I can see that system doing, at best, is saying, "Oh, there's more activity on the top electrode toward the back (which is where the motor system is in your brain) -- maybe we should move something in the game" Do I think this device can discern between different patterns of electrical activity to move one object within the game vs. another? Give me a break... I don't think scientists are capable of doing that right now in a controlled research environment using electrodes affixed to your head, let alone with a device that can slide around on your head & only has two electrodes for the parietal area (top/back of your brain).

Now if we had a grid of electrodes surgically implanted onto your brain itself? Then we're getting somewhere! In fact, with setups like that, scientists have shown in monkeys, they can use their thought patterns to move robotic arms in the real world! Things like that are very cool stuff that could help paraplegics and those suffering from other neuromuscular decisions. However, even that technology with surgically implanted electrodes is far from widespread use, let alone what to do with a helmet that has only a handful of electrical contacts for your head.

The same idea that there's not enough information from this device to accurately represent ANYTHING applies for the facial expressions as well, although oddly enough, I think they're closer to pulling that one off in a semi-credible manner. For example, eyeblinks produce a spike of activity that could easily be represented graphically, while smiles & other expressions may have grossly distinct enough patterns (or more likely different patterns over time) to where they could maybe pick up enough to show it on a screen. As for detecting subtle changes in facial expression and representing it graphically? I'm not buying it... Measuring "discreet emotional states?" Uh uh... don't see it happening... "Detecting players' conscious thoughts"? No way... trust me, if they really could do that with this sytem, the military would have co-opted it by now, and the Wii, or any other current gaming device, wouldn't the worth the plastic it costs to manufacture it!

In short, the ideas here are cool, and I think you'll see more stuff like this in the future. However, the marketing claims in that little blurb way overstate what they can and can not do. If nothing else puts this into perspective for you consider this. From playing the Wii, you already know how much information it throws away in making the character movements (which is the biggest reason I'm not as much of a devotee as the rest of you, but that's another story). Now instead of simply sticking an accelerometer in there & integrating the force of movement over a certain duration of time, try measuring SMALL amounts of electrical activity from a faraway source (when it comes to the size of electrical brain potentials, a helmet is far far away) and interpreting that to a meaningful action. Trust me, that makes the sampling rate of the Wiimote look like HD TV instead of a 8-inch analog screen with bunny ears for an antenna...

Kato

Wow. Noone thinks this might be anything or do you all just think it's hype. If this has been brought up in another thread...I would love to know about it so I can read about it.

Centipeed

No one wants to play games wearing a goofy helmet. It'd be novel at first, sure, but this kind of technology isn't exactly accessible.

Kato

Centipeed wrote: »

No one wants to play games wearing a goofy helmet. It'd be novel at first, sure, but this kind of technology isn't exactly accessible.

According to their site it should be available to consumers in 08. Don't you think someone would do something with it?

Centipeed

I don't think it's a technology suitable for gaming, is all I'm saying. Other technology areas, maybe, but they're needs are different. I doubt there's any chance this thing could even register more than a couple of commands, let alone the controls needed for a modern game.