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Getty ImagesStar Wars may have been science fiction, but moving objects using nothing but one's thoughts is now a reality.
NeuroSky Inc., backed by $7 million over two venture rounds from WR Hambrecht + Co., Japan-based Marubeni Corp. and Taiwan-based TUVC, has developed a technology and headset that people can use to control a videogame, and users soon may be able to do many more things without lifting a finger.
The company, which this month is expected to start shipping its MindSet headset to consumers, raised its first round in 2006 and second round in 2007.
The technology is based on electroencephalography medical technology, which has been around for decades to measure neuron activity in the brain. But unlike medical EEG, which requires dozens of electrodes attached to the head and a sticky gel, NeuroSky measures similar activity through a headset which uses a sensor that touches the forehead.
Two toy companies are about to release products based on NeuroSky-licensed technology.
Uncle Milton Industries Inc. this summer is releasing Force Trainer, a Star Wars game in which people can tap their inner Jedi knight to essentially levitate a ping pong ball. And later this year Mattel Inc. is releasing Mind Flex, which also involves levitation and movement of a ball on a small obstacle course.
NeuroSky also has two of its own games that it has released with its headset. One is a game called Neuroboy where people mentally focus on an object to light a car on fire, and relax or "meditate" to levitate it. Another game, Brainwave Visualizer, can analyze brain activity while people are listening to music. It can also be used to practice those brain functions of attention and meditation for people who are new to the product.
Large video game developers are also interested. Sqaure Enix Holdings Co. Ltd., maker of the Final Fantasy games, developed a proof-of-concept test game called Judecca. People play the zombie game by concentrating to make zombies visible to be attacked. Square Enix has not decided whether to actually release the game or use the technology for some other game, said Tansy Brook, communications manager for NeuroSky.
There are a wide variety of other potential applications for NeuroSky, Brook said. For example, in language or mathematics learning, NeuroSky can help identify when people have trouble learning a particular concept. The company is currently developing a mathematics game.
NeuroSky is also talking to car manufacturers about some kind of potential use in automobiles. The idea would be to identify when a driver is getting drowsy and then, say, send an alert, or maybe even blast the car radio. The technology is now being used in headsets, but it is not out of the question to have sensors, for example, on a car headrest.
Currently NeuroSky has algorithms that measure two brain activities: attention or focus, and mediation or relaxation. The company is working on other algorithms as well. While the company won't say which ones, one could speculate that recognizing anger, fear, excitement or joy may not be as far-fetched as "using the force" used to be.
Universities have used this technology for a variety of applications, such as controlling prosthetics through brain waves, Brook said. Most of that technology has so far involved placing a computer chip inside of a person, but eventually could work as easily as a headset, she said.
The company is approaching profitability and hopes to reach that milestone in the next quarter, Chief Executive Stanley Yang said.
If it doesn't, NeuroSky can always just use the force.
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