Mind-controlled games in the near future?
by Blake Snow 
{ Jul 12th 2006 at 8:30PM }
Forget a Wiimote. An implanted sensor in a paralyzed man's brain has allowed him to control both on-screen and off-screen objects solely by the power of thought. The US team heading up the project successfully enabled Mathew Nagle, who has no limb movement whatsoever, to "open e-mail, play a computer game [emphasis added], and pinch a prosthetic hand's fingers."
The BBC explains how it works: "A team of scientists inserted the device, called a neuromotor prosthesis (NMP), into an area of the brain known as the motor cortex, which is responsible for voluntary movement. The NMP comprises an internal sensor that detects brain cell activity, and external processors that convert the activity into signals that can be recognized by a computer."
"It's just wild," said Nagle of the experience. Better living through technology indeed. Though the commercial use of such technology is years out, one can hope for next-next-generation games, right?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
fawazr @ Jul 12th 2006 8:33PM
2 steps away from "mind-controlling video games," eh?
Robert Summa @ Jul 12th 2006 8:36PM
Cyberpunk here we come! Wooohooo!!
The3rdNuisance @ Jul 12th 2006 8:43PM
What happens when a person's brain (not mind) is fooled into thinking this simulated enviroment is real, and you die in-game?
Lam @ Jul 12th 2006 8:46PM
"What happens when a person's brain (not mind) is fooled into thinking this simulated enviroment is real, and you die in-game?"
I'd assume that the impulses were output only. It'd be rather hard to convert binary into information that brain cells could interact with.
Kevin B @ Jul 12th 2006 8:57PM
Who knows how much sony will charge for that in the PS4.
V1L3 @ Jul 12th 2006 8:58PM
It's certainly an intruiging thought, though I doubt many of us would elect to go through BRAIN SURGERY just to play games. And with politicians and family groups already decrying video games, this would just be more ammunition.
Aside from that, I think this could potentially take away from the experience of a game, as it removes a lot of the skill and reflexes from the equation. I think the best use of this technology would be to control the in-game camera, rotating, zooming, switching menus, etc, rather than controlling the actual gameplay. You know, all the things you want and NEED to do quickly but which is often awkward and wastes valuable controller real estate.
MegaMatt @ Jul 12th 2006 9:02PM
With this, you could put a paralyzed person into a "shell" and they could walk again? Or maybe put implants in their body so they could walk and move again, like little motors and stuff. That would be great.
Knoxximus @ Jul 12th 2006 9:08PM
I don't want anything implanted in me. Ever.
That is all.
Nick D @ Jul 12th 2006 9:22PM
Yes, but does it have a rumble feature?
Dux @ Jul 12th 2006 9:33PM
No thanks, Ill stick with the Wiimote lol
captain_duck @ Jul 12th 2006 9:36PM
Look forward to seeing this technology in the nintendo Psii in 2116 (its codename was Uberevolution)
Zoë K. @ Jul 12th 2006 9:47PM
Maybe I'm missing it, and this is not me being a fangirl or anything (since my first next-gen console will be a Wii anyway), but...
...why is this article filed under Nintendo's new console?
Danno @ Jul 12th 2006 9:48PM
Don't think about this just for video games. Imagine instead being able to control ANY electronic device with your thoughts.
That's nearing singularity level changes in the way we live.
Manoel Balbino @ Jul 12th 2006 9:51PM
Geeze, how weird is reading such news after just watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex all over again.
Did the man learn to read barcode yet?
Baboon @ Jul 12th 2006 9:59PM
In the distant future.... maybe. Bu in most of our lifetimes I see this mostly being applied to medical use and maybe soldiers. Brain Surgery is just too dangerous right now for a consumer product to be implanted just as an electronics peripheral.
Now, in the future where we are all Cyborgs who need to be able to control swarms of nano machines with our minds, I can see this being a useful tech.
kenny @ Jul 12th 2006 10:00PM
you die in the game, you die for real
Coco @ Jul 12th 2006 10:01PM
now all thats left is make it WiFi Rf or Bluetooth so ur not attached to your pc all the time
Derick @ Jul 12th 2006 10:40PM
Reminds me of the Technology in Ghost in the Shell.
Plugging in and all....
idioteraser @ Jul 12th 2006 10:49PM
Actually there has been research on ways to control keyboards and robots without any implants whatsoever. One of the ways and the research results which showed any one could use the skullcap allowing you to type with your mind was covered by newscientist mag back in March of this year. http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn8826.html
The implants btw are considered for those with paralyzed bodies. There has been quite a bit of research that shows such implants can trigger the muscles that the nerves had formally control over. This implant tech would allow paralyzed people to actually walk and pick up objects. It's also being considered for artifical limbs.
Past research had the people using arm or leg movements from the areas where they still had nerve control to trigger the mechinal implants to trigger the areas of the body where they didn't have control. It worked but was quite exhaustive for the person using the tech.
Skarabrae @ Jul 12th 2006 10:56PM
Sony's PlayStation 9 Ad comes to mind. [LINK]
suicidesnowman @ Jul 12th 2006 11:43PM
Very interesting news indeed.
#4. I'd assume as well that they are output only signals being received from the brain.
#9. If they found a way to highjack the brain's signal receptors, you most certainly could have rumble, and taste, and smell... And we're talking artillery-shell-earthquake-plane-crash-breakdance-on-your-head level of rumble. Since all the rumble we sense is the sensory response to stimuli of our nerve endings. If you replace that signal in the brain. You could almost literally "put yourself into the game". Naturally, I wouldn't want to take 2 pounds of buckshot in the face, but the motion response (sea sickness)of being in a Higgins boat on your way into Omaha Beach would coupled with the impending assualt could certainly stir up a wider range of feedback/emotions than would ever be otherwise possible.
Or how about skidiving? Burnout at 200mph? Hell, even Jumping Flash for the PSX would be awesome with that kind of tech. The possibilities are near endless.
Sign me up.
Dave @ Jul 13th 2006 12:03AM
Wow! Imagine a world where I could just completely sit on my ass forever like a vegetable and live vicariously through an imaginary character that isn't so lazy as to be effectively paralyzed! COOL!
I wish The New Borg all the best. Please promise not to enslave me and my old-school-gaming brethren with your new cybernetic powers.
snarfoogle @ Jul 13th 2006 12:15AM
Perfect. Now I can just think "knife" or "flame thrower" and get my weapon, rather than die while selecting the weapon I need quickly, right? Now all I need is five hundred ninety nine US dollars or however much this technology will cost.
suicidesnowman @ Jul 13th 2006 12:22AM
@Dave
Why does everyone focus on only the bad aspects of everything? I didn't say that this kind of technology would a)turn you into a borg. b)ruin your life. or c)enslave you.
What I did say is that this tech could ENHANCE the "sit on your ass" experience you already want. There's no reason to fear change...or a better way to do things. Videogames are a medium to relay an experience from the developer to the consumer. That is all they ever were and ever will be.
And to this "sit on my ass forever like a vegetable and live vicariously through an imaginary character that isn't so lazy as to be effectively paralyzed!" I say... You've never played Oblivion, huh?
Patrick @ Jul 13th 2006 12:25AM
haha this so reminds me of .hack// series now.
Croove55 @ Jul 13th 2006 12:49AM
"9. Yes, but does it have a rumble feature?"
God yes, brain massage.
Dagget @ Jul 13th 2006 12:59AM
ITS THE MARK OF THE BEAST! Run!
j/k
Dave @ Jul 13th 2006 1:13AM
Please don't take my comments personall, suicidesnowman. I have played Oblivion. I just don't recall feeling the need for a brain implant to play it. It's not that I fear change--it's that I don't feel the need for a controller in my brain. I mean, sure it'd be convenient--but so would a couch-freezer-refrigerator-microwave-toilet.
suicidesnowman @ Jul 13th 2006 1:30AM
..."couch-freezer-refrigerator-microwave-toilet"...
( < < )
( > > )
( O O )
.....QUICK! TO THE PATENT OFFICE!
(none taken dave)
Taruts @ Jul 13th 2006 2:36AM
Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
Silverblade @ Jul 13th 2006 6:27AM
Gaming? Interesting, but it is just one aspect of it. Medical use is far more important and interesting but the most widely influential use of such technology would be keyboardless/mouseless/voiceless/see-mama-no-hands straight interfacing with all kinds of electronic devices and of course computers. With voice recognition in place of typing this would eliminate the need for any kind of external input device.
Cdaghostie @ Jul 13th 2006 7:41AM
Id like to say one thing. Most of us on this site COULDN'T use it. We would actually be walking around and stuff (note the PARALYZED guy was doing this). (No offense) Hence the problem with sitting on your ass playing using this thing.
Like someone said I only expect this to be used in the military and medical field. Maybe those military robots they show on tv will use em.
32_Footsteps @ Jul 13th 2006 9:20AM
The idea of having a chip directly stimulate the appropriate nerves seems more than a little dangerous to me. I mean, more often than not, we can't trust video game companies to do a proper camera for a 3D game, and we want to give them access to my central nervous system?
Moreover, if we're starting to talk about it stimulating receptors in the brain, what's to stop it from messing around with the pleasure center, thereby physically addicting us to a game? I think we ought to leave this for just the medical community.
benjamin @ Jul 13th 2006 10:09AM
Just a few quick observations:
1. If you wanted sensory input you'd need several implants in a few different anatomical locations. (Temporal and occipital lobes, amygdala and reticular activating system, and the cerebral cortex, among other possibilities)
2. You wouldn't need surgery. Intracranial pressure monitors are used all the time in ICUs, especially trauma units both to measure ICP and to drain cerebral spinal fluid. They're inserted in a sterile bedside proceedure in some hospitals. I'd assume this would be placed the same way. It actually looks a lot LESS invasive.
3. Risk of infection would be a MAJOR concern. Normally the blood brain barrier protects your brain from microorganisms that find their way into the bloodstream. This would provide a direct route.
It sound really cool to me, though. I really don't see many reasons why, at some point in the future, this couldn't be implemented for all kinds of things.
But I don't think it could happen anytime soon except in persons with paralysis in which all other options and attempts at rehabilitation had been exhausted. The reason is that anything like this has to have possible benefits weighed against the risks. For someone with motor paralysis the possible benefits would almost certainly outweigh the risks. (Which I'd assume would be infection, hemmorhage, CSF leakage, cerebral necrosis, increasing ICP leading to possibly fatal cerebral herniation...)
I just don't see gaming as a use that'd outweigh those risks. Not until technology finds a way to nullify them, anyway. Which I think at some point it will. After all, IVs used to be too risky, now EVERYONE gets them.
Baboon @ Jul 13th 2006 10:30AM
32_Footsteps
Very true, at least in the idea of feedback. If game makers got access directly to parts of the brain, like the pleasure center, the Jack Thompsons of the world would have a field day. Also, there is not guarantee that the game companies would be ethical enough to not make their games addicting. Getting the consumer addicted to your product is a VERY good strategy from a business point of view. There is no more loyal a consumer than one who must use your product in order to function.
GamerZero @ Jul 13th 2006 10:34AM
I think it's a great idea for installing a rootkit into the brain.It's the only sure fire way to lock people into buying Sony's products outside of brainwashing PS2 fanboys.
dotun.o @ Jul 13th 2006 10:47AM
The day a gaming device has to directly link with my brain is the day I stop playing games (actually, I'll stick to retro). I read this article and my first thought was, "Short Circuit." What happens if the chip fries? It's probably safest working one-way only, outputting signals without returning any to the brain itself, but it COULD still fry... in your head! And don't tell me, "It will be perfected in the future"; technology has never been perfect. Even for the best devices, there are always those one or two defective ones out there. Here, a defective unit could mean a trip to the morgue - one-way tickets only! :) (hey, that's not funny...)
Besides, is it even necessary? I can understand for a limbless person, but even that carries its risks - he could go from limbless to brain-controlled machine activity to malfunction and death.
Now, if it could, say, pick impulses off the skin and not directly hook to the CNS, we might have a winner.
I'm no expert at the subject and there must be more to it than I know, but I doubt I'll ever feel comfortable with devices DIRECTLY communicating with my CNS.
Baboon @ Jul 13th 2006 11:02AM
I doubt you really have to worry about the chip combusting in your head. It probably runs off of the electrical impulses of your brain, as I don’t see them attaching a power cord or a battery to it. I think the biggest risk of the procedure would probably come from the implanting process. And as almost any paralyzed person will tell you, especially someone paralyzed from the neck down, the risks involved are definitely worth it.
I think if they are going to implement this sort of thing in our lifetime in the consumer world, they would probably use a non invasive method of sensing. It might not be as efficient or accurate, but it would probably be cheaper and a whole lot more safe. I can see this mostly outside of medicine as a tool for pilots and ground troops. A soldier could think something and get a different display on his HUD, or possible a silent communication device in covert ops. Anything that lets a grunt stop thinking about how to operate a device and just lets him do it helps keep him alive.
TKLink @ Jul 13th 2006 11:54AM
When I read this article all I was reminded off was Tom Clancey's Net Force books, where they have the VR computers. THta is all
Matt @ Jul 13th 2006 11:55AM
Everyone seems to be focused on a chip here but the most logical form of any computer in the future would be a micro/nano machine in the form of an injection. Who knows where wireless and nano technology will go in the future, but i doesn't neccisarily have to be in the form of the computer chip as we see it now.
nano machines are already showing great promise in the science and medical fields. If any implant were to be put in you it would probably be in the form of some sort of permenant IV plug.
On a side note if anyone is looking for some great Sci-Fi reading that goes along this topic, you should check out "Otherland" by Tad Williams. It is a great (but extremely long) sci-fi series that covers implants, people getting stuck online, uploading the mind to the net and so forth. Worth the
$8 purchase of the paperback.
Darkblaster @ Jul 13th 2006 2:06PM
I saw this on tv not long ago. He played pong and stuff. The only problem with it was it is painful thing to get addded. Also it would coast alot of money. Now maybe in 5430 they will think its a great idea to have these implanted into our brains. But for now I am going to stick with the good ole controler.
Lauren @ Jul 13th 2006 6:42PM
I've played a mind-controlled game like that. It was back when they were treating my dyslexia/ADD in the fifth grade. I raced spaceships. It was mentally exhausting. By the end of a week of sessions I could not stay awake for more than an hour.
Lauren @ Jul 13th 2006 6:43PM
oh and I should add there was no mind control chip. Just a lot of sensors on your head and chest.
ColutusOfBrog @ Aug 2nd 2006 12:24PM
You think that's wild? This company just came out with the same thing except you don't have to have a hole drilled in your skull...from their announcement:
"Typical "Mind Interface" or "Brain Interface" devices use electrodes to measure brainwaves or other physiological signals, and then transmit them to a processing interface or computer for use. A distinguishing feature of Psigenics Psycho-Responsive Devices (PRDs) is that there is no electrical or other connection to the user. Also, the user need not be physically near the PRD for the device to function properly."
No holes in my head, and I can control it from across the room...wireless Borg!