# Brain control games **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 16, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546 "2009-01-16T03:39:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/1 "2009-01-16T03:39:13Z")
> **[MindFlex Game by Mattel](https://www.ubergizmo.com/2009/01/mindflex-game-by-mattel/)** > > \[CES 2009\] To complete the trend of product trying to use the human-brain interface, Mattel is coming to CES with this game that requires to wear a... I just stumbled across this and I was wondering if this is real or a joke/hoax? If it’s real it has staggering consequences for mankind. ---
**Author:** ![doubled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@doubled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubled)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/2 "2009-01-16T03:57:18Z")
It’s real. I’ve never played this particular game, but I’ve personally played other similar “brain wave” games. It’s not nearly as cool as you think. It doesn’t actually read your mind. It’s basically just an old-fashioned polygraph lie detector. Various sensors monitor your perspiration, heart rate, electrical output from your brain, etc. “Relaxed” behavior makes the game’s ball move one way and “stressed” behavior makes the ball move the other way. That’s all. It’s not “think about making the ball go in the hoop and it’ll happen”. But “staggering consequences for mankind”? No, I don’t think so. It’s just a toy. The technology is no where near the point where you can drive a car by just thinking, or anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/3 "2009-01-16T04:31:15Z")
> [@doubled](#): > > But “staggering consequences for mankind”? No, I don’t think so. It’s just a toy. The technology is no where near the point where you can drive a car by just thinking, or anything like that. That’s true right now, but it is "One small step for mankind. Remember, the airplane the Wright brothers was a child’s toy compared to Stealth bombers, Black Bird spy planes, moon/mars rovers, etc. At the rate technology is advancing, ten years from now there’s a good chance that you will be able to use a computer without a mouse or a key board. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/4 "2009-01-16T04:46:04Z")
Oh, controlling your _own_ brain. I thought it was going to be a game version of one of [these](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341534). (note: linked thread is from 2005 and the original CNN article is gone) ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/5 "2009-01-16T09:51:02Z")
Aw, at first I thought this’d be really cool, and you could actually guide the ball around the obstacle course using just mental input, but it turns out you can only make it [rise and fall](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCgGAPox0D4&NR=1) (YouTube link) by adjusting your level of concentration, which is about the same level of ‘mind control’ a button represents when it reacts to my mental state by measuring the pressure my finger exerts on it. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/6 "2009-01-16T14:59:06Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > …which is about the same level of ‘mind control’ a button represents when it reacts to my mental state by measuring the pressure my finger exerts on it. But what were you expecting? That’s really the whole point–the machine becomes an extension of your body and you can learn to control it just as easily as you control your own finger. There are experimental[prosthetics](http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/may/28/monkey.arm)that do similar things. Yet another example of sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Beginning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@New\_Beginning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Beginning)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/7 "2009-01-16T16:44:47Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > …which is about the same level of ‘mind control’ a button represents when it reacts to my mental state by measuring the pressure my finger exerts on it. That’s besides the point. If I could type just by thinking about words, it would be the same level of control as typing on a keyboard. That doesn’t make it any less phenomenal. How long it’s going to take is anyone’s guess at the moment, but I agree that when we finally do get flexible brain-control of stuff it’s going to be a revolution. The whole “using your hands to do stuff” thing is getting old. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/8 "2009-01-16T18:01:08Z")
Isn’t this just basic biofeedback? I thought this sort of thing had been around since the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/9 "2009-01-17T12:33:20Z")
> [@New\_Beginning](#): > > How long it’s going to take is anyone’s guess at the moment, but I agree that when we finally do get flexible brain-control of stuff it’s going to be a revolution. The whole “using your hands to do stuff” thing is getting old. It’s not going to take long at all. We are [very close](http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4564186n). The last section of that video is most amazing. That Mattel toy is nothing- here’s your staggering consequences for mankind. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/10 "2009-01-17T12:45:39Z")
> [@New\_Beginning](#): > > That’s besides the point. If I could type just by thinking about words, it would be the same level of control as typing on a keyboard. That doesn’t make it any less phenomenal. The thing is just that what’s being shown in the OP is something we’ve basically been able to do ever since EEGs were first introduced; it is really orders of magnitude from being able to decode your thoughts into actual words, which I agree would be a phenomenal achievement, but right now it’s not even certain if it’ll ever be possible. However, there are advances being made even in that field, most recently with a high definition scanner that is able to somewhat reliably read a 100 pixel image from your brain activity, if it’s properly calibrated – [here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=497430) a thread I started on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/11 "2009-01-17T14:19:38Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > It’s not going to take long at all. We are [very close](http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4564186n). > > The last section of that video is most amazing. That Mattel toy is nothing- here’s your staggering consequences for mankind. Wow. Can I get a “fuck yeah!” for medical science? ---
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/12 "2009-01-17T20:43:03Z")
The thing that most excites me about this is that the technology will advance exponentially just like the computer chip. Remember when cell phones were big, bulky and very awkward with a limited range? Remember the Intel 386 chip? This is going to big a big leap forward. Right now it’s at an early stage and is like a small child learning to walk…two steps and fall, three steps and fall, etc. ---
**Author:** ![doubled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@doubled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubled)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brain-control-games/481546/13 "2009-01-18T16:48:35Z")
> [@jakesteele](#): > > The thing that most excites me about this is that the technology will advance exponentially just like the computer chip. Remember when cell phones were big, bulky and very awkward with a limited range? Remember the Intel 386 chip? > > This is going to big a big leap forward. Right now it’s at an early stage and is like a small child learning to walk…two steps and fall, three steps and fall, etc. Maybe. But as others have pointed out – this technology has existed since the 70s and has barely progressed beyond the initial phase yet. Assuming the current rate of progress holds, you may be waiting quite a long time for the breakthough you’re hoping for.