A toy that incorporates brain wave-reading technology? True or False?  Actually it’s true.  Engineers at NeuroSky Inc. in Silicon Valley, California have created prototype, eerily reminiscent of the Darth Vadar, defender of the Dark Side in the Star Wars saga.  Complete with mask, cape and light saber.  But the toy is not just for fun and games.

Behind the mask is a sensor that touches it’s users forehead and electrically reads the brain’s signals, then sends them to a wireless receiver inside of the light saber, which will light up when the users mind is fixed on a single thought.  The person can keep the saber lit by affixing their mind one single mental image but once the mind wanders the saber goes out.   

Adding such technology to a game like “Tiger Woods PGA Tour,” for instance, could make the game ultra realistic requiring that players exhibit an ultimate level of concentration, similar to that used on an actual golf course in order to sink a putt.   Or make it more difficult to compete at “Grand Theft Auto,” by reducing aim accuracy when players become nervous or frightened.

NeuroSky Inc, the company responsible for the technology has been trying to weave such technology into toys and video games. They say the simple Darth Vader game is a simple example of more sophisticated ideas and devices to come.  The hope is to make video games in particular more mentally stimulating by requiring more concentration and brain function and not just muscle memory.    

Such technology could have a profound impact on the education world as well.  For years teachers and educational professionals have lobbied against video games as a way of babysitting children after school and some even accused the games as frying brain cells.  Well it is believed the biofeedback technology could boost mental focus and help kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism and mood disorders.  The initial versions of the hardware will be strictly for gaming however there are plans that the devices will have clinical use in years to come.

The technology used in the prototype measures a person’s baseline brain-wave activity, including signals that relate to concentration, relaxation and anxiety. The technology ranks performance in each category on a scale of 1 to 100, and the numbers change as a person thinks about relaxing images, focuses intently, or gets kicked, interrupted or otherwise distracted.  But that’s all the technical stuff. 

Koo Hyoung Lee, a NeuroSky co-founder from South Korea, discovered the technology by trying to improve concentration for South Korea’s Olympic archery team. 

Now I’m not some ultra gaming nerd but I do play games.  Imagine the use this technology could have for sports games.  For instance NBA LIVE… make free throws more difficult as you loose concentration, distracted or tired.  Think about how many times you’ve been able to succesfully hit a game winning kick in Madden while speaking on the telephone.  Such practices would become a thing of the past.