Brainwave Device Reads Minds [Video]

Tan Le is one of the founders of Emotiv, maker of a streamlined device that translates your thoughts and facial expressions into computer inputs. It’s been hyped as bringing a new dimension to video games. Available as low as $300, the EPOC headset (an EEG device), is set to make a big impact on the market as one of the least expensive brain computer interfaces.

At the 2010 TED conference, Le gave a presentation on the capabilitis of the Emotiv device. The demonstration showed how the user could control a simulated object. Calling the EPOC a brain computer interface is a little bit generous. With only 14 channels, it’s a fairly simple version of EEG. It is a magnitude cheaper than the more advanced devices, and is able to translate a wide variety of brain activity into computer commands.

In the TED demonstration we are able to see a first time user move a virtual object and make that object disappear using monitored brain activity. The EPOC can be connected to a computer, using a learning algorithm wizard in just a few minutes. Soon commercial BCIs like EPOC will be employed in a wide range of applications, including video games, automated machines, and wheelchairs.