Neurofeedback games?

[Bernard]

Engineers at NeuroSky Inc. have big plans for brain wave-reading toys and video games. They say the simple Darth Vader game — a relatively crude biofeedback device cloaked in gimmicky garb — portends the coming of more sophisticated devices that could revolutionize the way people play.

Technology from NeuroSky and other startups could make video games more mentally stimulating and realistic. It could even enable players to control video game characters or avatars in virtual worlds with nothing but their thoughts.

Adding biofeedback to "Tiger Woods PGA Tour," for instance, could mean that only those players who muster Zen-like concentration could nail a put. In the popular action game "Grand Theft Auto," players who become nervous or frightened would have worse aim than those who remain relaxed and focused.

NeuroSky's prototype measures a person's baseline brain-wave activity, including signals that relate to concentration, relaxation and anxiety. The technology ranks performance in each category on a scale of 1 to 100, and the numbers change as a person thinks about relaxing images, focuses intently, or gets kicked, interrupted or otherwise distracted.

The technology is similar to more sensitive, expensive equipment that athletes use to achieve peak performance. Koo Hyoung Lee, a NeuroSky co-founder from South Korea, used biofeedback to improve concentration and relaxation techniques for members of his country's Olympic archery team.

Brain wave reading toys

I found this part encouraging:

An EEG headset in a research hospital may have 100 or more electrodes that attach to the scalp with a conductive gel. It could cost tens of thousands of dollars.

But the price and size of EEG hardware is shrinking. NeuroSky's "dry-active" sensors don't require gel, are the size of a thumbnail, and could be put into a headset that retails for as little as $20, said NeuroSky CEO Stanley Yang.

 

[John-Forrest]

I am keeping an eye on this development. I'm sure I can't afford the expensive medical devices that cost thousands of dollars, but I see "head-games" going for only a few hundred. Are these as good as the fancy medical devices? Considering what a rip-off medical treatment is in general, I wouldn't be surprised if they are.

This thing may revolutionize how people interact with computers. For example, you could just "think-commute" to work. Once this thing comes out, I'll be the first on my block to get one - and I'll let you know how it works.

 

[Bernard]

More on the subject. Looks like the technology is going to be fairly sophisticated as it will be monitoring multiple wave channels:

... NeuroSky has signed a number of licensing deals for its sensor and signal-processing technology, notably with Sega Toys. "The complete embedded hardware fits into a lightweight headset, which is Bluetooth and USB-enabled," says Greg Hyver, vice-president of marketing at NeuroSky. "The headsets should cost around $49 (£25), a similar price to other game peripherals." The company has also completed work on a mind-reading enhancement for mobile phones.

NeuroSky's showcase game features a 3D arena where players have to lift and manipulate objects such as watermelons or cars. The heavier the item, the more focus or relaxation is required. In the multiplayer version, you can throw objects at other players. Directional movement is controlled using the mouse, but winning requires more than quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination.

"This technology is really turning traditional gameplay on its head," says Olafur Palsson, a professor at the University of Carolina who has designed a number of medical and commercial neurofeedback products. "Most games currently just make you zone out. Being able to produce a sharp, clear brain signal, on the other hand, can be very valuable."

Palsson has patented a golf trainer called Zone, which warps the green and adjusts the size of the hole depending on the player's ratio of alpha, beta and theta brainwaves. Lining up the shot would require a high level of focus, associated with high beta and low theta frequencies. The putting stroke would be accompanied by alpha waves, demonstrating relaxation. He doesn't have a release date yet, but says this is just one of a number of products that can also help people train their brain to "rev up" on command.

Mood movements

A team at Keio University in Japan has developed a PC-based system that allows players to walk the virtual hallways of Second Life by the power of thought. Their headset scans activity in three areas of the brain's motor cortex, which control voluntary movement of different limbs.

The avatar walks forward when they focus on moving their feet, and turns when they focus on their right or left arm. The team hopes its system will help reinvigorate patients suffering from paralysis, but as with Emotiv's "Expressiv" technology, it can be used by almost anyone.

Another Silicon Valley company, OLogic, has built a robot called The Brain which follows its owner's orders - if it's in the right mood. It plans to have a commercial product in stores by next year. Ted Larson, one of the founders of the company, says OLogic uses a radio-enabled version of NeuroSky's headset, "so it really looks like mind control".

Yet another product due in the next year or two is software from the French company Musinaut, which selects music appropriate to the user's current or desired mental state. Palsson says there is huge potential for musical applications. "Piano players might want their theta activity to be higher," he says. "In the meditative state, the music plays them, as opposed to them playing the music." ...

Playing games with your mind

 

[John-Forrest]

I just logged into NeuroSky today. The web page is a bit vague about what is being released, when it is being released, to whom it is being released to (something weird about needing a license), and, last but not least, how much will it cost? I think we should encourage them to think about software in neurofeedback applications.

 

[RobinN]

I think I will stick with the experts to manage something as tricky as a seizure disorder.
Though this might be fun! Talk about having trouble falling asleep....

 

[brain]

Uh Oh!!!! (and not Spaghetti O's either)

If it comes out in a Wii fashion;
oh my gosh .. we'll never see
BIRDY again!

LOL! LOL! LOL!

Or even worse -- MR. B. either!

:roflmao:

 

[RobinN]

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/neurobotics/

Paralyzed people have already used the Graz brain-computer interface to walk and talk in a virtual street. The speed and sophistication of brain-computer interfaces is currently limited, but future developments could lead to total immersion in a virtual world.
***
American scientist John Donoghue is masterminding a brain implant called BrainGate. For the first time, it allows people to move physical objects by thought alone. A tiny chip in the brain picks up signals produced as you think about carrying out an action, and turns them into physical movement. 'We hope to achieve the control of a variety of technologies to allow disabled people to carry out everyday tasks,' says Donoghue.

 

[Bernard]

Wow... Sounds like The Matrix.

To be clear, what I found most interesting about the news stories above is the sophisticated, low cost hardware. I'm guessing we are getting closer to the day where clinical EEG neurofeedback systems will be available in your neighborhood electronics store for about the same cost as a gaming system.

I'm not sure that the game systems themselves (as mentioned in the articles) have necessarily considered the long term consequences of the operant conditioning their games are going to effect upon people.

 

[John-Forrest]

"I'm not sure that the game systems themselves (as mentioned in the articles) have necessarily considered the long term consequences of the operant conditioning their games are going to effect upon people."

Yeah, that's something to think about. People hooked on computer games for long periods of times may have long-term effects on their brainwaves. There is a possibility a perfectly normal person could develop some sort of seizure disorder from using the wrong brainwaves.

Along that line, I wonder what long term computer use does to brainwaves?

 

[brain]

Wow... Sounds like The Matrix....

Like I said ... "if it ever came in a
Wii model, Wii will never see you again!"

:agree:

 

[corycountree]

Get Moving in Cyber Space

Imagine your motor cortex fully activated while you have full muscle tone but both what your cortex says you are experiencing and what you are actually experiencing are not what you body is actually doing. You were trained to do this on a brain computer interface. Highly Skilled lucid dreamers in intense sessions and brain tomography on the level of seismic tomography make this all possible. Accessing the brain thru non-invasive means is vital in Berlin where Brain Computer Interfacers and the Locked-in are moving things with only their minds; however, one might say that all this research is treading water awaiting advances in Neuro-surgery. I’m pitching the thoroughly developed non-invasive technique as a necessary prelude to the invasive interface. I’m just looking for sympathetic places to post the story I’m telling in the form of a fictitious photo journal.
loreta-mocap-bci.blogspot.com

 

[John-Forrest]

Doing research on neurofeedback. This device seems particularly sophisticated. 16 channels and portable for in home use. It's main purpose is game control or control over computer devices, but it could be used to see what your brainwaves are doing. Only $300. I'd want reviews from people who have used it, not the company jargon. Looks pretty cool! http://www.emotiv.com/eeg/features.php

 

[Nakamova]

That would be great to test out. A little steep, but cheaper than neurofeedback from a practitioner...

 

[John-Forrest]

I'm not sure they've developed software particularly relevant to seizure control here. They have another model being developed called the Insight with only five sensors that fit on head better without needing saline. The EPOC, looks like a hair net, has 16 but takes a bit of time to put on, need some gel for semi-conductor. The other looks more like a hairband. We might want to wait a while and see what people are saying, looks like this just got on the market last year. Since it offers wireless control of computer or any other computerized devices it could revolutionize computer control and make you feel like a magician playing games which sounds fun. You can also see all channels of raw EEG data, but we'd want software to tell us whether we're developing 'smoother' brainwaves.

 

[John-Forrest]

The more I look into this, the more intrigued I become. Maybe I'll use my tax return $ to buy one of these and see what happens, though I want to do careful investigation. So far, most info I see is from THEM, maybe a review or two from heavy duty gamers. I'm also interested in using this as a tool for meditation, I have no doubt that meditation helps the brain get in a calmer state that would be less apt to trigger seizure. It seems to me that if you can manage to control your brain enough to move something around on the screen, you're halfway there already. Trying to find out if they have neurofeedback programs.

 

[Nakamova]

I don't think the neurofeedback programs aren't out there yet for home consumers (unless you're partnering with a practitioner who monitors the results). Current home programs can help reinforce alpha waves which might help some people by reinforcing focus. I think the ideal ones for epilepsy would aim to boost SMR (sensorimotor rhythms).

 

[John-Forrest]

This actually relates to a debate about the effectiveness of drugs. The usual approach both neurologists and psychiatrists use is the brain is a chemical mechanism and put the right chemicals in and you're ok. This of course is making drug companies super rich. But since improvements are noted from neurofeedback, it indicates our problems may be caused by electro-magnetic fields. So that goes as far as to be a debate: Is the mind chemical or electrical?

 

[Nakamova]

Is the mind chemical or electrical?

Both!
Certain chemical elements (notably the ones with ionic bonds like calcium and sodium) are electrically unstable and for that reason play "gatekeeper" roles in neural signalling. So it's hard to separate the two issues.

The drugs are effective for many people, but it's often by stopping a seizure after it starts, rather than preventing the activity in the first place. In addition, the drugs are blunt instruments: Since they have to be fairly powerful to cross the blood-brain barrier, they are more likely to cause unwanted side effects.

So there's a lot of appeal to neurofeedback, a treatment that might prevent seizures rather than stop them, and have minimal or zero side effects. Unfortunately there just hasn't been enough large-scale testing done to convince the medical establishment that it's an effective epilepsy treatment. The testing barrier is quite high -- there's no simple way to take someone with epilepsy off their meds or give them a placebo -- so most results are anecdotal and occur in those who have refractory epilepsy.

It's also likely that neurofeedback may not work for everyone, since epilepsy has so many different causes. In certain genetic forms the root cause can be chemical -- missing or faulty receptors for processing calcium or sodium and operating the "gates"-- so operant conditioning such as neurofeedback is less likely to make a difference.

The good news is that neurofeedback is moving into the mainstream for treating ADHD/ADD, and there have been several recent studies showing efficacy. That makes it more likely that insurance companies will cover it, since the initial high investment is justified by reduced reliance on drugs over the long term.

Here's hoping that eventually the same will happen for seizure disorders!

 

[SlimBlue]

The Insight does look good, and much is being said about monitoring apps as well as just avatar control. It stormed through it's $100k kickstarter project and last time I checked was at $1.6m.

As usual for a kickstarter it's already past delivery schedule for early birds lol but apparently this has more to do with resourcing problems as opposed to particular technical problems.

2014 looks very exciting indeed

 

[Bernard]

... But since improvements are noted from neurofeedback, it indicates our problems may be caused by electro-magnetic fields. ...

I don't think that necessarily a correct statement. Neurofeeback is indicative of the brain's ability to train and adapt (neuroplasticity) - to learn a new way of functioning. I envision it like training the body to use a specific technique like a golf swing. The muscles might already have a habit/pattern that they are used to and you have to work to train them to use the new technique.