New Device Makes It Possible to Take Pictures With Your Mind

The technology of mind command recognition is coming to the market: A British company unveiled an application that connects Google Glass to a wearable electroencephalography (EEG) device, giving users the ability to take pictures with the power of thought.

The company This Place, based in London, offers free software called MindRDR to pique the interest of developers who could design new applications.

The application connects Google’s electronic glasses with another gadget, the Neurosky EEG biosensor that costs around 71 pounds (or 121$). This wearable, lightweight device consists of electrodes that touch the user’s head and reads the brainwaves associated with concentration and focus.

To take pictures, a user has to focus their mind on a white line that appears on the screen of  Google Glass. When the line rises up, the picture is taken by Glass’s camera.

However, the system is somewhat “primitive” and is a “minimum viable product, a first step that can be developed further,” as writes a TechCrunch reporter who attended the technology demonstration at the offices of This Place.

Electroencephalography devices, which are currently presented on the market, are mainly used in toys, while the equipment used in research on mind control of computers and prostheses is very expensive and bulky.

However, technology is advancing rapidly and This Place is confident that in the future the software could be used by surgeons or patients with mobility problems.

“While MindRDR’s current capabilities are limited to taking and sharing an image, the possibilities of Google Glass ‘telekinesis’ are vast,” said the company’s creative director Chloe Kirton to the BBC.

“In the future, MindRDR could give those with conditions like locked-in syndrome, severe multiple sclerosis or quadriplegia the opportunity to interact with the wider world through wearable technology,” she added.

At the same time, Google made it clear that it does not support MindRDR, stating that it was not reviewed or approved by the company, that is why it will not be available in the Glass app store.

However, the spokesman of the company added, “Of course, we are always interested in hearing about new applications of Glass and we’ve already seen some great research from a variety of medical fields from surgery to Parkinson’s“.

Featured image credits: mindrdr.thisplace.com