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posted by LaminatorX on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:05PM   Printer-friendly
from the Pure-Energy dept.

A London-based start-up, The Place, has configured Google Glass to be controlled from a users brainwaves by combining the glass hardware with an electroencephalography (EEG) headset. They have released the initial code on GitHub.

An EEG headset can be used to measure when certain parts of the brain show a greater level of activity.

In this case, the MindRDR software monitors when the wearer engages in high levels of concentration.

Within Google Glass's "screen" a small window that appears in the corner of the wearer's right eye a white horizontal line is shown.

As a user concentrates, the white line rises up the screen. Once it reaches the top, a picture is taken using Glass's inbuilt camera.

Repeating this process will then post it to a pre-configured social media profile.

At present, Google Glass is controlled by either voice command "OK Glass, take a picture" or by tapping and swiping on the side of the device.

"We wanted to realise the true potential of Glass by allowing users to control it with their minds," said Dusan Hamlin, chief executive of This Place.

"Currently, users either have to touch it or use voice commands, which are restrictive for some social situations and for users with disabilities."

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:13PM (#67039)

    Taking a creepy piece of hardware and making it more creepy? Although it's an interesting application for brain waves I'm not so sure this is great selling point for the general public.

    • (Score: 2) by lhsi on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:24PM

      by lhsi (711) on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:24PM (#67044) Journal

      The initial application (take a photo) is just the first basic one they have implemented to show it working. The idea is (now the code is out there) that others can develop more applications for it.

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by Buck Feta on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:52PM

      by Buck Feta (958) on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:52PM (#67051) Journal

      I'm working on an *invisible* version of Google glass that can also be controlled by brainwaves.

      --
      - fractious political commentary goes here -
    • (Score: 2) by SpockLogic on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:31PM

      by SpockLogic (2762) on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:31PM (#67071)

      Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "Think Different"

      Oh, never mind. It's not an iDevice.

      --
      Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
    • (Score: 2) by CoolHand on Thursday July 10 2014, @03:52PM

      by CoolHand (438) on Thursday July 10 2014, @03:52PM (#67120) Journal

      Yes, the force a "clicking" sound on cell phone cameras, but this will be allowed? I don't think that's quite "fair."

      --
      Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by geb on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:32PM

    by geb (529) on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:32PM (#67046)

    For most people, voice interfaces are a terrible idea. They were worth developing as an option for when people found good use cases, such as in cars, but a machine that can only be controlled by voice is going to be slow, clunky, and limited in what you can do with it.

    Having to speak the company's preferred product recognition marketing phrase before every command is not a good feature either.

    Electrodes are probably going to be a slow, clunky interface too, but at least it'll be quieter.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by middlemen on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:58PM

      by middlemen (504) on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:58PM (#67054) Homepage

      For most people, voice interfaces are a terrible idea.

      Not to forget the variety of accents to parse. Siri for example sucks at answering questions properly for my custom non-American accent whereas Google's Android's automated search does a much better job.

      Voice based systems are just a bad idea. They're good for Yes/No type questions and for people with physical disabilities. I can't even imagine what someone who cannot speak or hear properly be forced to use a voice controlled system must feel.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Geezer on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:50PM

    by Geezer (511) on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:50PM (#67050)

    Glasshats!

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by LookIntoTheFuture on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:58PM

    by LookIntoTheFuture (462) on Thursday July 10 2014, @01:58PM (#67053)

    Let Google read my brain waves? Are you out of your fucking mind?

    • (Score: 2) by lhsi on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:08PM

      by lhsi (711) on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:08PM (#67059) Journal

      Let Google read my brain waves? Are you out of your fucking mind?

      This application is (currently) not Google approved.

      Google made it clear that it does not support the app.

      "Google Glass cannot read your mind," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

      "This particular application seems to work through a separate piece of kit which you attach to Glass.

      "We have not reviewed, nor approved, the app so it won't be available in the Glass app store."

      • (Score: 2) by LookIntoTheFuture on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:28PM

        by LookIntoTheFuture (462) on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:28PM (#67070)
        "Google made it clear that it does not support the app."
        Yet

        ""Google Glass cannot read your mind," a spokeswoman told the BBC."
        Yet

        "This particular application seems to work through a separate piece of kit which you attach to Glass"
        For now.

        "We have not reviewed, nor approved, the app so it won't be available in the Glass app store."
        For now.

        Startup wants Google to buy their tech for $Umteen. News at 11.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:35PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:35PM (#67076)

        "Google Glass cannot read your mind,"

        Like we're dumb enough to believe that. Thats just want they want us to think while they hijack our brains and use our eyes as their cameras and ears as their mics. You're all Google's super spy agents!

    • (Score: 2) by Tork on Thursday July 10 2014, @04:11PM

      by Tork (3914) on Thursday July 10 2014, @04:11PM (#67136)
      But but but it's just like a cellphone!
      --
      Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @07:02PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @07:02PM (#67233)

      Why is there no "paranoid" mod?

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday July 11 2014, @01:04AM

      by c0lo (156) on Friday July 11 2014, @01:04AM (#67369) Journal
      You reckon Google will be able to make sense from the cacophony generated by my personalities?
      I know them for a long time and even for me is hard some times.
      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
  • (Score: 2) by mrcoolbp on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:21PM

    by mrcoolbp (68) <mrcoolbp@soylentnews.org> on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:21PM (#67064) Homepage

    "You mean you gotta use your hands? That's like a baby's toy! [youtube.com]"

    --
    (Score:1^½, Radical)
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:24PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:24PM (#67067)

    This: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(TNG_episode) [wikipedia.org]

    Is Where: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Game_(episode) [memory-alpha.org]

    We Are Headed: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708798/ [imdb.com]

    Never Forget: https://tinyurl.com/poorwesleycrusher [tinyurl.com]

    They want control of your mind.

    This isn't about entertainment at all - the end 'game' is the battle for your mind!

    The Mind Has No Firewall | by Timothy L. Thomas. Parameters, Spring 1998, pp. 84-92.
    http://pastebin.com/JdkqxBAa [pastebin.com]

  • (Score: 2) by Subsentient on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:48PM

    by Subsentient (1111) on Thursday July 10 2014, @02:48PM (#67086) Homepage Journal

    We are the Borg? Are they insane or just working for Dr. Evil? I am REALLY sick of people building new technologies just because they can! The scientists and engineers responsible need better ethics and need to take responsibility for the very real potential for abuse that this technology actually has. If you thought 1984 was dystopian, imagine the horror of mind controlled masses, or worse yet, feeble, large brained, godless borg-humans cloning themselves because they can't reproduce after 10,000 years of a sterile technohell environment.

    --
    "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @04:32PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @04:32PM (#67151)

      imagine the horror of mind controlled masses, or worse yet, feeble, large brained, godless borg-humans cloning themselves because they can't reproduce after 10,000 years of a sterile technohell environment.

      Shudder, that must be the second worst thing there is!

    • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Thursday July 10 2014, @05:08PM

      by Nerdfest (80) on Thursday July 10 2014, @05:08PM (#67174)

      This is a camera with which you can take a picture by thinking about it. It's not evil. It's not 'creepy'. It's frikkin' amazing. The level of fear of technology around here astounds me at times. If you think the technology should be regulated, talk to your local government. This is a camera. There have been cameras before. There are game controllers and devices for quadriplegics that use brain waves for activation.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @09:12PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10 2014, @09:12PM (#67296)

        But-but! Its Google! I know for a fact that they're constantly streaming the video from every Glass unit directly to the NSA at all times. We should break people's noses for buying those things; there's never been a better justification for violence and destruction.

        • (Score: 2) by Tork on Thursday July 10 2014, @10:42PM

          by Tork (3914) on Thursday July 10 2014, @10:42PM (#67332)

          Yeah, well said! Google, a company who makes money from mining as much of your personal information as they can get ahold of, is marketing a camera that you wear during your waking hours that is internet connected and gets apps from a store known to attract malware. I mean, seriously, what's all the fuss about?!

          --
          Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
  • (Score: 2) by meisterister on Thursday July 10 2014, @08:05PM

    by meisterister (949) on Thursday July 10 2014, @08:05PM (#67257) Journal

    I didn't read TFA, but based on what I've seen with this sort of device, it likely just measures overall activity. Now, I could make the obvious point that that makes it impossible for people with Glass to take pictures, but in reality they'll likely be taking pictures nonstop by accident.

    --
    (May or may not have been) Posted from my K6-2, Athlon XP, or Pentium I/II/III.