BCI “Fun App”: Star Wars The Force Trainer

So while my current proposal is under supervision I am looking for other things than my own research within BCI. Today I was looking for commercial uses of the BCI system and the first thing that caught my attention was the Star Wars Force Trainer.
People who see this for the first time and don’t know a lot about BCI are stunned, but it’s a simple trick. Watch the official demo to see where I am talking about!

In a nice looking tube, with lights and sounds, is a ping pong ball. The goal of the game is to elevate the ball to a certain height and keep it their. You get instructions from Yoda and after a while you can be a real Jedi.

For average people it is stunning, but we know it is relatively simple to create a BCI like this. The toys use an adapted form of the EEG technology to measure the brain activity. You already know a lot about this, because I described it in my earlier posts.

A small computer is connected to the fan, which blows the ball up in the air. The computer transforms the brain activity to fan intensity. So, you need to create a lot of brain activity to lift the ball to the highest platform. It is fun to control the ball with your thoughts, but it doesn’t matter if you really think about lifting the ball, a difficult mathematical problem or how you can steal the cookies out of your mother’s jar. The game is all about creating enough brain activity to control the fan and therefore the ball.

What is nice about this invention is that they created a cheap EEG system that can be used for commercial goals. I don’t think this system can be very precise, but it is a good development for BCI. The Force Trainer is available for $75 and is one of the most wanted Christmas gifts of 2009! A lot of people want these kind of “gadgets”, because of their coolness. Controlling a ball with your mind, just sounds very cool, doesn’t it? The success formula!

For normal people it is stunning, but we know it is relatively simple to create a BCI like this. The toys use an adapted form of the EEG technology to measure the brain activity. You already know about this, because I described it in my earlier posts.

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