The Shoot ‘Em Up You Play With A Wii Remote And Brain Waves

NeuroSky, a company that specializes in brain to computer interface devices, brought a game called Mind Invaders to GDC. Before you play the game you have to equip a headset of sorts with a little antenna that measures brain activity.

Mind Invaders tracks your attention or concentration. Green alien-like things fly on the screen. You use the Wii remote to move a cursor which controls a laser. The power of this beam is determined by your level of focus. A number between 0-100 on screen indicates your attack power. Basically, you shoot down invaders faster when your focus is higher.

It’s a neat concept and after a mind-on demo Mind Invaders feels like it works. However, you don’t have to focus on shooting invaders. That actually distracted me. Any thought, in my experience looping ones or music, seemed to be more effective. One thing interesting about Mind Invaders is when I switched targets my attack power dropped a little. I consciously changed what was in my mind from my focused thought to scanning for another. So, my “attention” or better put what I was paying attention to temporarily changed, which affected the attack meter. Neurosky’s game has a cool premise. Wonder what this would be like mixed with “bullet hell” patterns…