The Emotiv EPOC headset - Allowing video games to read your mind
By Dave Parrack
A headset is due to go on sale later this year that could, if developers make full use of the technology, see gamers controlling elements of computer games purely by thoughts and emotions.
Neuro-headsets, or devices which read neural activity aren’t new, having been used since the 1970s, but the Emotiv EPOC headset has a number of firsts associated with it, which makes it an important development in the field.
Tan Le, president of US/Australian firm Emotiv, spoke to BBC News about the device, and why this is different than any others used in Electroencephalography:
“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. It also doesn’t cost tens of thousands of dollars.”
“It picks up electrical activity from the brain and sends wireless signals to a computer. It allows the user to manipulate a game or virtual environment naturally and intuitively.”
“The headset could be used to improve the realism of emotional responses of AI characters in games. If you laughed or felt happy after killing a character in a game then your virtual buddy could admonish you for being callous.”
Which all makes the Nintendo Wii and it’s use of a remote to manipulate on screen characters look like child’s play.
The headset will cost $299 when it launches later this year. It works by the use of a gyroscope which detects head movements, and sensors which respond to the electrical impulses used in different thought and emotion processes.
Emotiv claim the headset can detect more than 30 different expressions and emotions, including excitement, meditation, tension, frustration, shock, and anger. Cognitive actions such as push, pull, lift, drop and rotate can also be detected, which means gamers could potentially move objects in a virtual environment just by thinking about moving it.
This is a very exciting development, as it has the potential to revolutionise the world of gaming. The problem, as always, is whether games developers will see fit to use the potential here to change the gaming experience.
Emotiv is already working with IBM in hopes of developing the technology for “strategic enterprise business markets and virtual worlds”, but whether others follow suit is another matter.
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