Your Brain Might Control Your Next Smartphone
If you thought the Samsung Galaxy S4 was packed full of features, your next Android device may have yet another ability that will blow your mind. VIOS, a subsidiary of Mind Solutions, Inc., has received the first tranche of funding needed to complete the company's new mind-reading headset. This presumably would be an evolution of the Emotiv headset. The device, which functions similarly to the NeuroSky Mindwave Mobile, would be the "smallest, most practical and user friendly EEG device on the market," according to CEO Kerry Driscoll.
In testing, the device has successfully allowed users to use their mind to interact with Android devices, including popular Android smartphones and tablets. Generally, these devices use a contact point on the forehead, as well as a clip on the ear, to sense the presence of different brainwaves and calculate concentration and relaxation levels. Developers can then build software to respond to these different levels, allowing a user's brainwaves to influence applications.
Currently, the most practical use for this technology is brain training, which helps teach users how to optimize mind performance and cognitive functions, especially in users with special needs. But applications can be fun as well, and an entire suite of games which support mind-input have cropped up since the release of the Mindwave Mobile headset.
Driscoll sees even more practical applications with the new VOIS headset, geared towards everyday users. "Uses for the technology are endless and can be applied to almost everything we do in life," he said. "It can be used for operating a smart home [and] controlling applications on our phones and computers."
However, like Google's Project Glass, users will need to get over the awkwardness of wearing the device in public.
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