Reading Your Brain: The future of gaming? �

Check out this device, called Project Epoc. It is an electroencephalograph cap designed as an input device for video games, and will be introduced at next week's Game Developer's Conference. The manufacturer, Emotiv, claims that the sensors which come in contact with the user's scalp will allow machines to take both conscious and non-conscious inputs directly from your mind. So, for example, your avatar might look startled and recoil before you even realize that is what you are feeling. Pretty intriguing when you think about the impact in an environment like Second Life. Also a little eerie.

I have been reading the book "What Video Games Have to Teach us About Learning and Literacy" by the pre-eminent researcher Jim Gee, Amazon.com:James Paul Gee in which he argues that the designers of the most challenging and engaging video games should be recognized as modern masters of learning theory, since they create experiences that although deeply frustrating, are also intensely engaging and fulfilling for the player. He also suggests that learning and literacy do not happen in the abstract, but are deeply grounded in human social experience. I'd have to think that he is going to be first in line to try out this technology!
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