Hey guys,

Omg. I just had an Octopus on my head. Or, if I weren’t stretching the truth quite so much, the Emotiv Headset. With the helmet moistened to read my brain-waves more easily, it really felt like an octopus was peeling off my skull when the Emotiv Headset was removed.

The Emotiv Headset will become an addition to video games: where users can think certain commands to supplement games. And, trust me, it’s a lot harder than it sounds! Thinking a command isn’t just ‘do this’ – but it’s focusing of mentally doing the activity.

After the headset had gotten used to my brainwaves, I had to try to push a box on projected on a screen backwards. I firstly had to train the machine to know what it felt like when I was thinking pushing it backwards. Then I had to actually push it backwards. I pushed and I pushed and – sometimes – just – some of the way. After a while I had it, but it is something you’d really need to practice over a few days or hours to get the hang of.

The most challenging part what making the box turn invisible. Pushing we can imagine – but going invisible – where is our point of reference with that?

The best use of the Emotiv Headset will be to supplement games – not as the primary device. So, if we’re wanting to cast a spell, instead of pushing a button on the controller, we can simply think of the action to cast the spell.

Geoff Mackellar, who was showing the Emotiv Headset, also shared that in the future games could respond to mood – if people get bored, or stressed, the game could add more or less characters, or according to mood, the weather or setting could change. Or, you might need to be in a certain state of mind to do something – like completely calm in order to jump a cliff or scale a wall.

Very, very awesome. Definitely a highlight of today!

It was a very weird sensation being able to move things with my thoughts. It genuinely felt like trying to master a new-found superpower.

I’m off to check out a few more exhibitions. I’ve missed Saul Griffith – because I was playing with the Headset. Rumour had it’ll be podcasted – so I’ll let you know when I find out more!

Signing off for today!

- originally posted on 10daysofscience.com

This post is tagged #lf2020, create, Emotiv, Emotiv headset, Games, Mind, move, thoughts