Hasta La Gadget!

The Neurocam is the latest invention from Neurowear – the minds behind the Necomimi cat ears and that tail that wags tail that wags based on your thoughts. Though this one seems like a slightly more useful, if not still strange device.

The Neurocam monitors brainwave activity to monitor your interest level in things you’re observing. When it senses that your interest threshold has been hit, it automatically captures images or video. In its current state, the system automatically creates 5-second GIFs of interesting subjects. Here’s a brief video demo of the Neurocam in action:

The device is a headband that holds the users smartphone in a bracket, and it appears that it also has some sort of 90-degree lens adapter for the smartphone so it captures images of whatever you’re looking at.

It’s definitely a novel idea, but all I can imagine is that for most guys, the Neurocam is only going to capture images of cleavage and butts.

Some would say the internet already lets us share every minute detail of our thoughts, much to our followers’ dismay. Duke University isn’t deterred by our behavior — if anything, it just took oversharing literally by connecting two rats’ minds in an experiment, first in a lab and ultimately online. Electrodes attached to the brain of a host “encoder” rat in Brazil processed the motor-oriented mental activity for a desired behavior, such as pressing a lever on cue, and converted it into a signal that was then received by a “decoder” rat as far away as Duke’s US campus. The majority of the time, the decoder rat performed the same action as the encoder. Researchers also found that rewarding the encoder alongside the decoder created a virtuous loop, as treating the first rat for a job well done focused its attention and improved the signal strength.

We’re not sure that Vulcans would endorse this kind of mind meld, though: apart from immediately depriving the decoder rat of self-control, prolonged testing led to the same rodent developing additional sympathetic reactions to the encoder. There’s also concerns that the test was too binary and didn’t reflect the complexity of the whole brain. All the same, Duke’s study is proof enough that we can export brainwaves in a meaningful way.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: Discovery News

Source: Nature

Brainwave-guided interfaces are common. Most of the time, though, they’re not what we’d call subtle. PLX Devices hopes to have that licked through the XWave Sport, a brain interface that disguises all its sensors through a fuzzy, exercise-friendly headband. Underneath the incredibly 1980s-retro (but washable!) look, you’ll get about six hours per charge of tracking for concentration, relaxation and other noggin-related data that can transmit over Bluetooth to apps for Android, iOS or old-fashioned PCs. An SDK is available now, but pre-orders for the $100 XWave Sport won’t ship until September 20th. That should give us enough time to perfect our Flashdance reenactments.

PLX’s XWave Sport gives brainwave interfaces a casual look, triggers ’80s flashbacks originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 01:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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