Have you heard about the new Mindflex game from Mattel that is due out this Fall? It’s a mental acuity game where you use your thoughts to move a ball through an obstacle course. I’ll admit that I’m pretty skeptical that this is real. That said, the videos make it look kind of fun. Maybe if I get this game and become really good at it, I can use my super brain moving powers to clean the house while I sit on my butt in front of the TV. Hmmmmm… Video clips after the jump.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Not sure if that will sell well since it’s not really considered as a “game/toy” that kids would be into. The concept is good though if it’s really using your cerebral cortex to control the “ball” (aka. fan speed). Another concept that uses “mind control” is Emotiv Epoc, which is a head gear that you wear and you can control any game, application, and hardware interface you want. Of course the Emotiv uses more complex sensors to sense EEG and muscle movements.
I can’t imaging anyone NOT wanting to try this. It look pretty straight in the video, not tricks or super slick animation.
I saw something like this last year i think at wireds nextfest you could wait in line to try it out. but it just had you move the ball across the space to a goal it didn’t have all the obstacles. It seemed to work.
Atari had their Mindlink ready to go back in 1984, a controller that used the same concepts as this and the Emotiv Epoc. It’s an idea that pops up now and then, and never really seems to take off. None of them have ever garnered any kind of good reviews in the key requirement of being a good *controller* — although the phrase “this will revolutionize gaming” has been said about all of them.
I always kind of wondered if it would do best as a drinking game sold to college students.
It looks like it uses the intensity of your thought (a simple energy level reading) to control the height of the ball, then you use a knob to move it through the course.
Still interesting, in that it assigns one axis of control directly to your brain, but hardly the “mind control” device they seem to be promoting. Looks like fun, though, and I’ll probably pick one up out of my affinity for Star Trek TNG’s episode “The Game.”
where can i get it?