Mind-controlled video games - What do you make of this?

I keep rereading this article from Wired, and quite honestly, it's kind of blowing my mind. It's about video games that are controlled directly by your brain - I guess there's some kind of bio-feedback hookup that reads brain waves, and the player controls the game by just thinking. You know, like Clint Eastwood in "Firefox", except you don't have to think in Russian.


During the course of some of my wife's "technology trends" research, she ran across an actual "relaxation" device that used direct feedback from a person's brainwaves to control some type of "virtual ball" game. The idea was that the more relaxed and focused the user could become, the better control they could have of the ball on screen. So, I'm convinced this is real, and not just a rumor.

Now, I'm all for fun times and video games. New controllers are always exciting. I'm not really all that worked up about the "Guitar Hero" game; I know some music teachers seem to think there's some educational application for it. I've played it a few times, and I really don't think so. It's a fun party game, that's all.

However, this "mind control" thing - that could have some real educational (or artisitic) value. Could it get to the point where software will allow us to compose music with no technique at all? If you could literally just imagine something, and have it come into being with no effort, would you spend any time practicing your instrument, learning sequencing software, or whatever else it is that you've wasted all your time and effort working on?

While I'm on the subject, let me share some of my illogical, unnatural conclusions that my mind automatically leaps to when thinking about this stuff: Will language translation become automatic, like the "Babelfish" from Douglas Adams books? How far away are we from installing software directly into our brains? When the Diebold people get ahold of this technology, will they tally up our presidential votes based on our direct, emotional response to viewing candidates during speeches and debates? Can direct, software-enabled telepathic communication be far behind this technology (i.e. "neuro-blogging", "think-mailing", "emo-twitter" . . .)

Call me crazy, I find ideas like this extremely intriguing.

It's hard enough to get kids to see the relevance in learning some archaic skill like playing a string instrument or reading printed text as it is now. When they start playing mind-controlled games, I'm out of there.

Here's a link to a company that makes this stuff. They even have a list of games they make. They also claim in their title that "it's good for you". Wow.

Now, I really want to know what you make of this. Comment, or email, or blog about it yourself and send me a link. I can't be the only one who thinks this is bat-guano crazy.