Brain video games
Gaming is certainly on the rise these days, and with technology ever-evolving, it’s not strange to think we may one day be able to play them with our minds. Researchers from the University of Washington are trying to make telepathic communication gaming a reality.
By using a program called BrainNet, researchers had three people playing a game similar to Tetris by using brain-to-brain interface. The revolutionary part of this process is that it is the first time more than two people were able to receive and send information to others using only their brain.
The way it works is that two people will be looking at the screen and will not be able to manipulate what is happening to the blocks. A third person, the receiver, has control over the game with their brain. The two senders decide what they want to happen with the block with their brain, which is passed through the Internet to the receiver. The receiver will process the information they receive and sends a command to the game.
The senders, who are staring at the game, can send a “yes” or “no” signal to the receiver. They are able to do this by staring at the “yes” or “no” option that is available to them on the screen. The options are provided to the sender by flashing lights, which triggers unique brain activity. The caps that are being worn on the the participants’ heads can pick up those signals and transmit them to the receiver.
This is the just the beginning of what researchers hope will pave the way for future brain-to-brain interfaces. This will give more than one brain the opportunity to work through difficult problems that one brain itself couldn’t solve.
The future plan is to tweak the equipment, as it is quite bulky and costly. But any information they are able to gather through games like this will certainly help researchers make the necessary adjustments to make this the gaming of the future.