So, it has finally happened.
No longer will you find yourself lying on the sofa, cursing that you need to make yourself stand-up to turn on the lights, close the curtains and find the TV remote.
A company called Emotiv Systems have developed a headset that can read your thoughts and then get a computer to do what you are thinking. Kind of like your hands, only cooler.
So far computers can only understand the direct inputs you give them, but with this piece of kit the whole realm of human interaction can be introduced into human-computer interaction. The software can intuitively respond to your thoughts, responding to your facial expressions and emotional experiences.
Just what you always wanted then yeah? A computer that judges you for being miserable and boring.
Ok, I confess, I do it a disservice. It could actually be really useful. We will soon be able to play computer games without needing to hold a controller in our hands and our on-screen avatars will smile when we smile. This is going to make emoticons a thing of the past. Man is saved!
No seriously, it does hold the potential to change the way we use computers, changing the world in the process. The possibilities are endless. People will be able to steer their electric wheelchairs using their mind. Doctors could perform highly delicate surgery using robots controlled by their brain…
Let’s just hope they don’t get distracted by the nurse’s cleavage and end up giving someone a boob job when they meant to remove their appendix.
At the moment the software is quite basic, allowing simple objects floating on a screen to be moved around using your brain. The potential is huge though, as long as we can avoid just using it for some weird virtual porn kind of thing.
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