The BBC is reporting that a US/Austrailian Company called Emotiv, will be releasing a non-vaporware headset that reads the brains electrical activity and translates them into commands that a video game can understand.

From Ms. Le, President of Emotiv: “Emotiv is a neuro-engineering company and we’ve created a brain computer interface that reads electrical impulses in the brain and translates them into commands that a video game can accept and control the game dynamically.”

The headset device, non-suggestively named Epoc, would be a relative breakthrough in the controller arena of video games.  If the Nitendo Wii Controler was suppose to be a revolution, this seems like it should be well a new Epoc.  It uses non-evasive EEG to read the brains neural activity, such readings are largely done in the medical field and usually at great cost to the patient.

According to the BBC report the device can also interpret a persons emotions, giving away to relative realism for one’s in-game avatar.  If the player smiles, their avatar would perform the same facial gesture within the game. The headset can recognize over 30 different expressions, emotions, and actions. “They include excitement, meditation, tension and frustration; facial expressions such as smile, laugh, wink, shock (eyebrows raised), anger (eyebrows furrowed); and cognitive actions such as push, pull, lift, drop and rotate (on six different axis). ” - the BBC notes. 

On the hardware side; the headset can communicate wirelessly (no not with your brain) with a computer via a wireless USB dongle attachment thingy and has a gyroscope to sense the player’s movement.  Surprisingly for consumer off the shelf (assuming it gets on the shelf) brain scan device, the thing will only cost $299. 

However, there are problems with this whole brain reading thing.  There is no release date, no mention of anybody significant with Emotiv besides Ms. Le (whatever she may do), no line-up of what games or consoles this could work with, no mention of it’s expandability, and basically we don’t know much about this device except that it exists and is consumer friendly.  I cannot even reason how they came up with that $299 price.  Furthermore this isn’t the first device to claim controllability of a video game via brain power, but it is the first device of any significance to claim ‘all that’ and consumer production.

Emotiv is going to be working with IBM to develop the technology for other applications.  IBM Vice President for Digital Convergence, Paul Ledak, said that the device could play a significant role in a 3D Internet.  Obviously this gives and indication of what IBM is working on… IBM IS WORKING ON A 3D INTERNET?!!?!?  Ahh, that’s just what our planet needs, I’m sure it’ll solve world hunger.

[BBC] [Emotiv]

UPDATE:  Ok, the BBC News Technology Bureau officially cannot convey news very well.

If you go to the Emotiv website you can find a lot more information.  Including the fact that Epoc is in Beta, the SDK is being shown at GDC 2008, and today (2.19.08) was the products unveiling.  The Chief Marketing Officer on a video interview on Emotiv’s site stated that product would be available sometime “next year.”  Emotiv will launch Epoc with a set of its own games, similar to how the Wii has Wii Sports, and is shipping the SDK version of the product to developers for them to be able to integrate the headset into their games. Haven’t found any video of it actually working yet…

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