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Is this the next Wiimote?
oddment
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
We have had a lot of innovation in the way games are played in the last 15 years or so... some have become mainstream, some have totally failed. This new innovation could have the potential to change the way we play games in the future.
So, what do you guys think? Could this be the way forward for gaming control? Could it work for all kinds of games, or would we need a traditional pad to back it up?
A neuro-headset which interprets the interaction of neurons in the brain will go on sale later this year.
"It picks up electrical activity from the brain and sends wireless signals to a computer," said Tan Le, president of US/Australian firm Emotiv.
"It allows the user to manipulate a game or virtual environment naturally and intuitively," she added.
The brain is made up of about 100 billion nerve cells, or neurons, which emit an electrical impulse when interacting. The headset implements a technology known as non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) to read the neural activity.
Ms Le said: "Emotiv is a neuro-engineering company and we've created a brain computer interface that reads electrical impulses in the brain and translates them into commands that a video game can accept and control the game dynamically."
Headsets which read neural activity are not new, but Ms Le said the Epoc was the first consumer device that can be used for gaming.
"This is the first headset that doesn't require a large net of electrodes, or a technician to calibrate or operate it and does require gel on the scalp," she said. "It also doesn't cost tens of thousands of dollars."
The use of Electroencephalography in medical practice dates back almost 100 years but it is only since the 1970s that the procedure has been used to explore brain computer interfaces.
The Epoc technology can be used to give authentic facial expressions to avatars of gamers in virtual worlds. For example, if the player smiles, winks, grimaces the headset can detect the expression and translate it to the avatar in game.
It can also read emotions of players and translate those to the virtual world. "The headset could be used to improve the realism of emotional responses of AI characters in games," said Ms Le.
"If you laughed or felt happy after killing a character in a game then your virtual buddy could admonish you for being callous," she explained.
The $299 headset has a gyroscope to detect movement and has wireless capabilities to communicate with a USB dongle plugged into a computer.
The Emotiv said the headset could detects more than 30 different expressions, emotions and actions.
They include excitement, meditation, tension and frustration; facial expressions such as smile, laugh, wink, shock (eyebrows raised), anger (eyebrows furrowed); and cognitive actions such as push, pull, lift, drop and rotate (on six different axis).
Gamers are able to move objects in the world just by thinking of the action.
Emotiv is working with IBM to develop the technology for uses in "strategic enterprise business markets and virtual worlds"
Paul Ledak, vice president, IBM Digital Convergence said brain computer interfaces, like the Epoc headset were an important component of the future 3D Internet and the future of virtual communication.
THOUGHT-CONTROLLED GAMING HEADSET
Sensors respond to the electrical impulses behind different thoughts; enabling a user's brain to influence gameplay directly
Conscious thoughts, facial expressions, and non-conscious emotions can all be detected
Gyroscope enables a cursor or camera to be controlled by head movements
The headset uses wi-fi to connect to a computer
So, what do you guys think? Could this be the way forward for gaming control? Could it work for all kinds of games, or would we need a traditional pad to back it up?
PSN Sig Hidden Within!*
*Thanks Thanatos!
*Thanks Thanatos!
oddment on
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Damn... I don't read that forum and with no search function, I failed hard. Ah well. I was hoping to discuss the potential impact such a device could have on gaming, rather than the technology behind it. If the mods disagree and just want the thread in the tech forum, feel free to lock this.
*Thanks Thanatos!
*edit* Make that two lightguns. Or you play a three-armed character and you control one gun with your mind. Excuse me while I clean myself up.
Yeah, because that sounds fun!
In multiplayer and co-op, the emotion reading aspect would be good to show your utter joy at killing the enemy, or your horror at being sniped.
*Thanks Thanatos!
The only thing you described which might not be completely counter intuitive would be using the headset to look around, but why would you need EEG sensors for that? A motion-sensing headset would be much more sensible.
Using it for telekinetic powers might be cool, although I'd wonder if we all imagine how it would feel to be telekinetic the same way and whether or not it would be frustrating for some people who would visualize 'moving objects with their mind' differently from how the engineers who designed the headset do. I don't know how well it works though, maybe it can detect the brainwave patterns if, say, I actually make the motion of throwing a grenade with my arm and hand. If it is that clever then you could just by-pass controllers altogether (although you'd still want them in some situations, say for force feedback, unless they bring out a next gen model than fires electricity into your brain causing your bodies nervous system to simulate feedback directly).
The emotion side of things is what could be really interesting. That would genuinely open up a whole new aspect of video game interfacing and offer opportunities for designing whole new types of games as well as elements within games. Imagine a squad-based FPS where the morale of your squad is affected by your own morale or a Resident Evil game that can acutely respond to your own fear or entirely new game sub-genres where the gameplay revolves entirely around achieving an outcome through control of your own emotions.
It's finally the future!
Epoc + Wiimote = Jedi. Imagine a game like The Force Unleashed where all the force moves are done in your mind with 1-1 Wiimote lightsaber control. Heck, I wouldn't even need a game to buy that, just a combat simulator or something.
Wiimote for controlling your lightsaber
EEG headset for your force powers
Edit: Terrendos. Yes.
This is where you are wrong, you DO open doors with your mind. You do EVERYTHING with your mind. The only question is the sensitivity of it. Move your hand like you are opening a door, or just THINK about moving your hand like you are opening a door and you are sending out brainwaves to that effect. A sensitive enough headset could detect that. this thing probably isn't there yet, but when perfected it would be the epitome of intuitive.
You would walk by thinking about walking, run by thinking about that, etc... Again, this isn't there yet and cannot detect that level of detail, but it will get there eventually. In our lifetimes? Maybe.
But the technology would not require a peripheral, in fact that would be redundant. The headset would read your brains signals as you use the peripheral and could do all that stuff on its own without it. You could be holding a stick.
The real question for THIS perpheral and what brainwaves it is sensing. What does it mean by six degrees of freedom for movement, is it reading impulses you send out to control arm muscles? If so, then a wiimote would interfere with that. Or are they somehow detecting some vague emotion of floating to determine 'up'?
We'd have to play with it to see what thoughts are required for movement controls.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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No, you're wrong. I don't think about it when I open a door. I just open the fucking door. Having to visualize opening a door is more difficult (not to mention probably using completely different parts of your brain) than just reaching out and opening a door.
On this subject I remember playing a "mind-control" game many many years ago. I had to slip a little cover on my finger to control a skier going down hill. If I focused on the left side of my brain he would stear left and visa versa. It was pretty cool but not very practical. Even if this endover falls a little flat I hope that the designers don't stop trying to develop it. It really is the path to total emersion.
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That makes me think of an interesting new tactic for online games.
"Hey, don't think of disconnecting"
"What? Why would I think of-"
<Player2 has left the game>
Seriously, can you imagine DeezNutz244 off Xbox Live having the cranial fortitude to make thought detection worthwhile?
It's not like thing unlocks your latent physic abilities. The idea is if you can do it in real life, you can do it in game, just without all the hassle of buttons or flapping your arms. Thing is, it's probably still waaay to early for this thing to be in the market. You're not going to be able to play half life with this thing, you'll be messing around with software they make with the headset, which probably won't be more then tech demos. Even those will most likely be clumsy and awkward to use.
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
Unless they can figure out someway to "filter" out actions that you are performing but don't intend your character to perform, I can't see this being a very plausible game-input device. Even something as simple as stretching your legs could mess up whatever you are trying to do in the game.
This will be great when Rose can tell Raiden/you what an asshole you are for the 17th time in MGS5.
Your brain can do this on its own. There was an experiment with giving a monkey a robotic arm that would mirror its real arm's movements, which the monkey eventually learned to control independently of its real arm.
Nomatter what the game objective or style would be, you'd still be owning people with your brain. The thought of this satisfaction in competitive play arouses me sexually.
Anyway, gotta go -- eyes are starting to feel dry.
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Why did they do that experiment with a monkey? If it was to test what you were suggesting, couldn't it have been easier to test with a human?
They're kinda leery about sticking piles of electrodes into people's heads. I'm sure human testing is planned once they determine that there are no bad side effects.
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This is something I've suggested before, but you could just tack a device like this onto a game like Jedi Knight and use it to determine dark side points or whatever you want to call it. Basically you have to remain calm when using force powers or you gain dark side points.
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