Very comprehensive review of the capabilities of this Neural Impulse Actuator device.

Review :: OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator

Reading through the review it appears that a lot of the control comes from the headband interpreting facial muscle movements.  There appears to be more bio-feedback type of signal receptors on the device but the reviewers struggled to make that portion work.

The review will be updated over the next month as they have handed the N.I.A. off to one of their testers to get fully immersed in the use of the headband.

the nia has now been passed over to our Gaming/Software reviewer - Chris Buer for a full month of testing with weekly updates. These updates will be posted as additional pages in this review, so be sure to check back on a weekly basis or register over on our forums for an automatic update on when new content is added to the review.

I'll check back later.

Here's the homepage of OCZ: OCZtechnology.com

And a brief description of what the device tracks from the site:

The biopotentials include electro-myogram, electro-encephalogram and electro-oculogram, that is, electrical signals that are generated by activity patterns in muscles, brain, and eyes, respectively.

Mind-Reading Game Headset to Hit Market

Brain computer interface is coming.  And it's coming fast.  There are several companies set to hit the market with products over the next couple of years: Emotiv and NeuroSky.

Both of these products are focusing on the gaming market segment to begin with.  There they have a ready customer, willing to spend money on accessories, looking for new gadgets and typically younger, typically male.

If done correctly the experience gained from entering that market could lay the groundwork for many other segments: quadraplegics, fighter pilots, surgeons, artists, equipment operators, data/security experts. 

Eventually how about an everyday person in a wired world...

Paralyzed man's mind is 'read'

Eric Ramsay can only "speak" by moving his eyes.  Now scientists and doctors are on the verge of being able to interpret his brain signals as speach...

"We have been moving towards decoding primitive vocabulary for a while now. But this is certainly an interesting development, although invasive techniques, where something is out in someone's brain, such as these will of course carry risks."

This is remarkable.

The forefront of Brain Computer Interface.  This is not a completed interface but the doctors and scientists involved believe they are getting close.

Researchers at Tufts University are conducting research to enhance user interfaces depending on blood flow in your brain.  Essentially using the blood flow as a marker for how high your current stress level is and hopefully more targeted information.

This would then be used to modify the user interface you work with to improve it conditionally to your behavior.

The technology is called Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS).  Basically it involves taking a headband full of infrared lasers, putting it on your head and shooting your brain with said lasers...ummm, sounds worse than it is.

The fNIRS device, which looks like a futuristic headband, uses laser diodes to send near-infrared light through the forehead at a relatively shallow depth—only two to three centimeters—to interact with the brain’s frontal lobe. Light usually passes through the body’s tissues, except when it encounters oxygenated or deoxygenated hemoglobin in the blood. Light waves are absorbed by the active, blood-filled areas of the brain and any remaining light is diffusely reflected to the fNIRS detectors.

[linky]

This is an interesting angle of research.  Not looking directly at the brain activity but at the blood supply. 

This segues nicely from the post I wrote yesterday: Will Wetware result in Telepathy?.

CNet News: [linky]

This is not necessarily a new invention but more of an INDUSTRY STANDARD.  This will hopefully allow for faster research in specific areas of brain computer interface.  Other researchers can focus on solving specific problems, they can use the MIT standard interface algorithm for the communication layer.

Fascinating.

MIT press release: [linky]

 Key point:

Until now, researchers working on brain prosthetics have used different algorithms depending on what method they were using to measure brain activity. The new model is applicable no matter what measurement technique is used, according to Srinivasan. "We don't need to reinvent a new paradigm for each modality or brain region," he said.

Journal of Neurophysiology, the research is due to be published in October: [linky]