Hey, I've been working with EEG and BCI stuff for a while, and we're currently working with NeuroSky, which is a mind reading headset thingy.
To clear up a few arguements:
1) The headset cannot read thoughts. It can just read brainwaves. THere is a huge difference. It knows if you are relaxed, concentrated , frustrated, anxious, sad etc, but it can read why you are sad.
2) Similarly, it can only use predictive responses. For example, it doesn't know if you're thinking "Move Left", it only knows if say, you are concentrating on the left side of the screen.
3) It's a one way system. The headset reads the eletrostatic signals being set off between Neurons in the brain. It then parses these through various algorithms to remove "noise" created by eletrostatic signals in the face muscles and so on. There is alot more going on in the brain than just eletrostatic though. A thought is made up of chemical transfers and hormones as well as the straight neuron response, so as of yet there is no way for it to make you think a certain thing.
I think we need to just get over the whole "is it going to kill me and/or steal all my childhood memories", arguement, and start thinking about how we can change games with this.
Airheads, which we made almost 4 months back is an example of how NOT to make a BCI (brain computer interface) based game.
The mind is by definition quite abstract, and as such, linking you brain to the game as a controller is a really bad idea. As much as you may be able to concentrate on the balloon until it inflates, it's quite frustrating getting the little man off the floor.
I personally see BCI as a way to make existing game play better. Imagine something like gears of war, still played with a controller, but your weapon accuracy is directly linked to your mental focus. THe speed that you bleed and lose heath is linked to stress and anxiety levels. Games could become much deeper in the way they deal with the link between the player avatar and the way the world behaves around them.
We've developed a number of different applications around the NeuroSky hardware, and I'll be showcasing some of them soon!
IanM, way ahead of you I'm affraid, we've already written the plugin!
I want robotic legs.
