Brain Control that enhances the gaming
experience
Group 5
Jonathan Weidel,
Brittney Robinson, Meghan Patty, Thomas Price
Key Words:
Transcranial magnetic stimulation, Economic
Importance, Influenced Medical and Manufacturing Fields
The emerging and
innovative technology that we found is a new and exciting gaming system that
operates using human brain waves. The gaming system is called EDK. EDK stands
for Emotiv Development Kit. The Emotiv Development Kit was researched and invented at the Emotiv Brain Research Lab in Sydney, Australia. The Emotiv Development Kit consists of a headset known as the
“Project Epoc”, and a processing unit which includes
a series of detection software applications that is programmed into the headset
so that human brain waves can be read for virtual gaming purposes. Emotiv technology
has the potential to break into several industries. Some of these industries
include television, design, market research, medicine, and security.
The Emotiv System was founded in 2003 by neuroscientist Allan Snyder, who is known for promoting his idea that transcranial magnetic stimulation of the left temporal lobe can induce learned skills in typical people. He suggested that with using transcranial magnetic stimulation, a person, for example, can draw better or count the number of dots on a screen faster. Transcranial magnetic stimulation is important in the innovative gaming system EDK because it uses a noninvasive method which includes the rapidly changing of magnetic fields to induce weak electric currents in the tissue so that neurons in the brain are excited thus triggering brain activity without the need for surgery or external electrodes. Others, who share cofounder’s responsibilities in Emotiv Systems and have contributed to the development of EDK, are chip-designer and engineer Neil Weste, and technology entrepreneurs Tan Le and Nam Do.
The Emotiv
Development Kit uses the “Project Epoc”, which is a helmet that has multiple sensors that
have been affixed in order to detect brain activity. “Project Epoc” passively collects electric signals
from the brain and wirelessly feeds them to three
software processing panels: the Emotiv panel, the Affectiv panel, and the Cognitiv panel. The Emotiv
panel attempts to mimic the user's
facial expressions on an Internet graphical
representation of a user in the form of a three-dimensional model– known as an avatar. Facial
gestures include smiling, frowning, winking and blinking. The Affectiv panel is able to detect certain emotions
or levels of interest, adding another layer of reality to avatars. It could
also be used to detect how users are feeling about the programs they are
operating – including levels of comfort or frustration. The Cognitiv panel allows a user to control the
movement of a virtual object, such as a ball,
by imagining particular actions including pushing, pulling, rotating or
lifting. To successfully move the virtual object,
gamers are required to
mentally concentrate on a particular action.
The innovative Emotiv Development Kit is, as usual, of economic importance.
The Industry Research and Development Board Submission are primarily focused on
the technological innovation and its commercialization involving Australia. The
Board stated that their purpose is “to increase the economic return from
successful technology-based enterprises in Australia by guiding the Australian
Government’s investment in the commercialization of the nation’s research and
development and innovation. This technology is, also, important because
it can pick up both human conscious thoughts and non-conscious emotions. The detection of thoughts and feelings can,
now, make it easier for applications to be controlled by human mind. The Emotiv Development Kit was invented to create the ultimate
interface for the next-generation of man-machine interaction, by evolving the
interaction between human beings and electronic devices beyond the limits of
conscious interface.
This new technology will impact other businesses and organizations in significant ways. The new neuro-technology that Emotiv Systems has created shows essential potential to ultimately changing and creating high levels of competition in several industries. Such industries include television, accessible design, market research, medicine, and security. With the new developments in the Emotiv Development Kit (EDK) and its amazing sensory helmet, “Project Epoc”, this technology can expand further than just an enthusiastic virtual gaming system. This innovative neuro-technological innovative gaming system can bring forth influences in the medical neurobiology field and industrial manufacturing field.
This technology has mostly influenced the scientific neurobiology medical field and the industrial manufacturing field. The health and medical care field has been experimenting with ways to implement neuro-technology for years. With evaluating and analyzing this innovative brain computer interface technology, physicians can, now, monitor brain activity without surgery or external electrodes to diagnose mental illnesses, levels of depression, or even auditory hallucinations. There are, also, possibilities of controlling robots for automation in the manufacturing industry which could cut down and hopefully eliminate the manufactured industrial job injuries. Other possibilities include creating and putting together virtual prototypes of new inventions or innovating current ones. Having the ability to critically think and innovatively create results in the efficiency of reducing time on inventing and manufacturing products. It also helps engineers decide on the complexity of their new creations. Overall the expansion of brain computer interface technology can have a major impact on how people conduct business and produce new technology.
In conclusion, the Emotiv Development Kit, which includes the interesting sensory helmet, “Project Epoc” and three different software applications: Effectiv, Affectiv, and Cognitiv, will revolutionize the neuro-technology and gaming era uncontrollably. New advances in the gaming industry have changed the way people entertain themselves with technology. When gaming systems were first invented, they started off with very simple joy-sticks and software. Today, as shown with the Emotiv Development Kit, the user can virtually be inside the game. Businesses are impacted significantly by this neuro-technological innovative gaming system. Emotiv Systems has not set a specific date for EDK’s release, but the company has stated that the release of EDK will be some time in 2008.
References
(2005).
Emotiv Company Overview.
Retrieved September 11, 2007, from Emotiv Systems Web
Site: http:///www.emotiv.com
Farber,
Dan (2007, March 6). Emotiv’s Man Machine Melding
Interface Technology. Retrieved September 09, 2007, from ZDNet Where technology
means business Web Site: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=4603
Questions
A. Brain waves
B. Facial
features
C. Emotions
D. All of
the above
A.
The
United States
B.
China
C.
Sydney,
Australia
D.
Reimstein,
Germany
A.
Sensitive
B.
Effectiv
C.
Affectiv
D.
Cognitiv
A.
Exciting
the brain
B.
Transcranial magnetic
stimulation
C.
Neutron enhancement
D.
Magnetic stimulation
A. Gives them a economic return on a
technological break through
B. It uses brain waves instead of the
traditional controller system
C. It gives ways to stimulate the human mind
instead of the traditional controller system
D. All of the above
A.
Monitor brain activity
B.
Better
X-Rays of the brain
C.
Scan the
brain for happy thoughts
D.
Controlling
people
A.
Detection of hand movements
B.
The
headset itself
C.
Detection
of emotions
D.
Detect
the facial features