EEG and Video Games??

Even if you don't know the term EEG, I'm sure you've all heard of or seen that instrument in psychology that has multiple white rods protruding from someone's skull. That instrument is called an electroencephalogram, or EEG, and it measures the electrical activity of the brain. The more thoughts and emotions you have and the more motions you make, the more activity appears on the EEG.

Now how is this related to computer science? Companies now are making those bulky machines portable and more accessible to the common person.  This is because those portable headsets are connected to a brain computer interface (BCI) that can read and interpret conscious and unconscious thoughts, emotions, and motions. To make a profit, those companies then connect those headsets to gaming systems in which your thoughts take control of the game. For instance, after setting up the controls of the headset, the game could send you a command to select a certain option or make a specific motion.  The EEG headsets collect the data from your brain and implements it into the game. Even more amazingly, because your brain interprets visual stimuli, the EEG headsets can take that data and create a more realistic world within the game. As time goes on and you continue to use the headsets, BCI continues to collect data from your brain activity in order to make the game even more realistic and attuned to you. And though the idea of letting companies have access to our thoughts and emotions are scary, this technology is pretty incredible and can be used to further many other fields of study.

References:

"EEG (Electroencephalogram)." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. The Nemours Foundation, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2016.

@emotiv. "EMOTIV - Brainwear® Wireless EEG Technology." Emotiv. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2016.

 Http://www.howstuffworks.com/about-author.htm. "How the Emotiv EPOC Works." HowStuffWorks. N.p., 10 Dec. 2008. Web. 16 Sept. 2016.