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Neurocam uses brainwaves to trigger hands-free photos, straps an iPhone to your head (video)
Neurocam uses brainwave sensors similar we've already seen in moving cat ears and TV navigation, but this time hooks up with your smartphone camera. This prototype, demoed at last week at Japan's Human Sensing 2013 conference, gauges your interest on a scale of zero to 100, and if your brainwave readout tops 60, it'll start to record video, eventually transforming the footage into five-second GIFs. In order to get the iPhone camera to eye-view, the smartphone connects to a headband which houses the brainwave sensor. Sideways on, the camera sensor then faces through a prism so it's looking at what you're looking at... and not just the inside of your ear. The experimental wearable, barring the smartphone hanging off, looks pretty similar to other brainwave reading wearables, although the addition of an iPhone will certainly make it weightier in comparison. The Neurocam is the latest product to come from the Neurowear project, which already gave us the aforementioned NekoMimi cat ears. We're not sure how comfortable we'd feel having all those radio waves near to our head for an extended period, although according to DigInfo News, this device, including its current design and shape, are still in the throes of development for now. The world always needs more GIFs.
Necomimi cat ears' creators branch out into brain-controlled headphones (video)
While we've always thought that brain-controlled cat ears are a perfectly viable business model, it's usually in a company's best interest to diversify, in case, you know, the bottom ever drops out of the furry accessory market. Neurowear, the company behind the Necomimi, which provided some of the more memorable moments at this year's CES, showed off its latest project, the Mico, which continues the company's core competency of letting people do stuff with mind waves. In this case, it's music control. A big white pair of headphones are connected to a sensor that rests on your forehead and a dangling clip for your earlobe (a la the Necomimi). The cans connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth, using your current mood to select a song from the company's app, which currently contains about 100 tracks. According to the company, the songs have been "neuro-tagged," based on its testing, to ensure that they match up to perceived mood. If your mood changes, just give the phone a shake and it will clean the musical slate Etch-a-Sketch-style.%Gallery-181189%
Neurowear wants to read your mind, geotag your feelings (video)
Geotagging your photos? Old hat -- Neurowear wants to geotag your mood. The folks that brought animated cat ears to the human race is now using NeuroSky's brainwave-reading headgear to suss out your emotional state and share it with your friends. We dropped in on the group at Tokyo Game Show to take a look at an early prototype. After strapping a familiar Mindwave mobile headset to this editor's skull, a companion iPhone app sprung to life, reading off relaxation levels and assigning cartoon faces to the user's mood. The reading could then be recorded on a map, tagging how the user felt at a given location and time and allowing them to share that information with their friends. Had a great time at a new coffee shop? Now you can prove it, and encourage your social contacts to join you. It's an interesting idea, but its still a long way from hitting the app store -- the demo we were given was only a concept app, and the geotagging portion of the demonstration was simulated. It may be awhile before you can tweet your feelings directly. Need another way to express yourself? Don't worry -- Nerosky is adding a brainwave controlled tail, dubbed Shippo, to its line of cranium controlled animal parts. Check it out (as well as our quick neurotagging demo) after the break. %Gallery-166239%
Tokyo Game Show 2011 wrap-up
All good things must come to an end, and likewise with this year's Tokyo Game Show which wrapped up yesterday. Despite the PS Vita's dominance and the lack of newly-announced hero hardware at the show, we were still able to keep ourselves entertained with the odd peripherals here and there, alongside some very interesting exhibits both at TGS and the Amusement Machine Show next door -- head past the break to humor yourselves. Alternatively, feel free to catch up on our TGS coverage while you're here (we have a list after the break as well), and don't forget to check out our awesome buddies over at Joystiq for even more gaming news. %Gallery-134244%
