SoylentNews

Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

As indicated by the name, video games are a very visual medium. But that hasn't stopped participants in a study at the University of Washington (UW) successfully playing through a game without ever actually looking at it, hearing it or using any of the standard five senses [newatlas.com]. Instead, they were guided through virtual mazes via direct brain stimulation, in a demonstration of technology that could one day form the basis of sensory prosthetics to help visually-impaired people navigate the real world, or provide a new way for anyone to interact with virtual ones.

The five players taking part in the UW study interacted with the game through a process known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, where a magnetic coil is placed on the back of the skull to directly stimulate certain parts of the brain safely and painlessly. This technique has shown the potential to treat migraines [newatlas.com], aid learning [newatlas.com], improve memory [newatlas.com] and allow direct brain-to-brain communication [newatlas.com].

At last we know how Luke was able to counter the drone with the blast shield down: direct brain stimulation.

Original Submission