Knowing Imagination

Imagination as computer controller! In an experiment performed by a fourteen year-old boy and a team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, and engineers at Washington University in St. Louis, the teenager was able to control a cursor to play the game Space Aliens- with just his imagination! I guess we’ve all played games in our imagination but in this case, after the installation of sensors on top of his brain, the boy actually played the game on the computer by imagining the movement of the cursor. The story on the web site, dated October 9, 2006, has a short video that clearly shows this and you can see that he is playing it pretty well, too. He had the sensors installed for medical reasons, not for game playing, but the researchers and the boy decided to take the opportunity to try this out.

I have often thought that the control of computers could well move in this direction. In another example, a computer game named Journey to the Wild Devine uses a biofeedback device connected to the computer by USB and senses changes in physiology to enable control various events in the game. One must learn to relax in one instance or become excited in other to progress through the game. This provides a fun way to learn to control one’s self. I like this game so much that I own it, use it, and recommend it to my friends and clients. (I also affiliate with the sellers and have a link to purchase it on this blog at the lower right column.)

Is it a stretch to think that as both computer and neurological technology continue to develop it will become more likely that at least some functions of a computer, if not most, will be controllable through biofeedback, including thoughts and imagination. What would games of the future be like with this capability? How might the interface with a personal computer be affected? What about computer assisted machines like the automobile, planes, trains, televisions and DVRs?