Imagine for a moment that you’re playing Assassin’s Creed, running across rooftops, but this time, when the time comes to leap into the air, all you have to do is think about lifting yourself up. Or, when you’re having a conversation in Mass Effect and want to cast a menacing look at the person you are speaking to, simply make the expression yourself. Sounds pretty farfetched doesn’t it? Well thanks to the people at Emotiv, gameplay scenarios like these are becoming a reality, and will soon be available to the public.

During last month’s annual Game Developer’s Conference, TGR stopped by Emotiv’s booth to talk to the people behind this interesting technology and to even try it out for ourselves. The method in which this thought processing technology is given to the user is through the EEG cap, which is composed of a number of sensors that monitor electrical activity within the scalp generated by the brain, as well as sensing movements from facial muscles. Emotiv had a number of stations set up that were demoing the technology, and we were eventually able to grab a seat and experience it ourselves.

When using Emotiv for the first time one cannot simply jump in and start playing, but must first set the thought sensing headset to be in tune your own mental activity. These tests involve relaxing your mind as the software adjusts to your thoughts and making different facial expressions, such as blinking or smiling, which are reflected in an onscreen avatar. You are also given a small floating box, which can be moved in a number of directions. As we were performing these tasks, the Emotiv crew adjusted the headset until it was properly adjusted to our own mind.

The retail version of the Emotiv headset.

In order for a thought to be processed, it is necessary to hold it for about six seconds. We were told that the time required was originally ten and that the team had gone through a lot of hard work to shave off those four seconds. So after Emotiv became properly acquainted with our brains, the demonstrator loaded up a demo level of a game that took advantage of the Emotiv technology and used an Xbox 360 controller to move around the environment.

Although developers do have access to Emotiv development kits, there are currently no titles on the market that take advantage of the product, which is why when you purchase Emotiv, a full game will also be included. We weren’t told all that much about the title, but the demo appeared to take place in an oriental fantasy setting, where your character is undergoing a kind of spiritual training that focuses on manipulation of objects with telekinesis. We were instructed by a wise monk to perform various tasks such as lifting rocks, assembling planks on a bridge or pulling at a tree. These were all accomplished by merely thinking about pulling or lifting, and the thought would then lead to a corresponding action onscreen. A few of us were unable to do the task of bending a tree, which would seem like a pretty simple test after being instructed to move a mountain, but perhaps this was due to a bug in the demo and not any feeble mindedness of our own.