The American toy company Matell, is ready to release MINDFLEX, a toy
designed to use brainwave filtering output to control a game, where a
ball is levitated by mind power to pass through a hoop. The device measures the activity of theta waves i the brain, and the output is used to control the ball...

The toy will be available on the American market from Fall 2009.

Although this is obviously a biofeedback device, it does look like
psychokinesis, when demonstrated in this MSNBC video from th "nightly
news program":

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/28607738#28607738

Scott Hill
Frontier Sciences Group

One of the products that slipped through the net in our CES coverage was a new game from Mattel. Its main difference over other gaming gadgets is the input method, which consists mainly of using your mind.

connect your brain to your computer! Current mood: amused Category: Web, HTML, Tech control your computer with brainwaves? We've heard this one before...hook your brainwaves up to an AI computer interface, a.la. cyborgs, and wupti! you can control your computer with your mind--a favorite subject of SciFi films and books, and often rumoured in the popular media.... But this time, it was IBM and partners who demonstrated the technique at the CES computer show in Las Vegas, which I have just watched on a video podcast... Emotiv systems based in the USA, has developed a headset for this purpose (don't worry, you don't have to drill holes in your skull to make the connection, like in Matrix!) and has actually demonstrated the device... And if you are a software developer and live in the San Francisco area, you can actually try it for free! I would suggest you view the podcast and look at the documentation, before commenting on this post! If you are a software developer, the Emotiv SDK is available for download also... Scott press release from Emotiv: Emotiv Systems was founded in 2003 by four award-winning scientists and executives: internationally recognized neuroscientist Professor Allan Snyder, chip-design pioneer Neil Weste, and technology entrepreneurs Tan Le and Nam Do. These founders all shared the same inspiring vision: to introduce the immediacy of thought to the human-machine dialogue. Together they have developed a technology that utterly transforms the way we interact with computers. While Emotiv is currently focusing on the electronic gaming industry, the applications for the Emotiv EPOC-- technology and interface span an amazing variety of potential industries -- interactive television, accessibility design, market research, medicine, even security. Plans for introducing Emotiv into these and other broad realms are already in the works. It's an ambitious plan, and to back it up, Emotiv has assembled an outstanding group of people for its Board , Advisors , and Staff Overview Communication between human and machine has always been limited to conscious interaction, with non-conscious communication -- expression, intuition, perception -- reserved solely for the human realm. At Emotiv, we believe that future communication between human and machine will not be limited to the conscious communication that exists today. Users will demand that non-conscious communication play a much more significant role. Our mission is to create the ultimate interface for the next-generation of human-machine interaction, by evolving the interaction between humans and electronic devices beyond the limitations of conscious interface. Emotiv has created technologies that allow machines to take both conscious and non-conscious inputs directly from your mind. Applications for Emotiv technology spans numerous industries, however, our immediate target market is entertainment, with a focus on the electronic games industry. Emotiv is committed to enabling all developers. We offer a range of licensed Software Development Kit (SDK) solutions that fit the needs of all, from large publishers to the independent startup. The Emotiv SDK gives developers unparalleled access to a user's mind. The Emotiv EPOC-- platform showcases the latest advancements in Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) neuro-technology. The Affectiv-- suite measures discreet emotional states. The Cognitiv-- suite detects conscious thoughts. The Expressiv-- suite can identify facial expressions in real-time. Each of the detection suites in the Emotiv SDK enables development of revolutionary interface experiences and a new level of user immersion in software. A beta-version of the Emotiv SDK will be available to developers from March 2008. Emotiv will also offer a hardware emulator SDK. SDKLite-- exposes our APIs and provides a comprehensive development environment without the neuroheadset hardware of the complete Emotiv SDK. What's New Emotiv EPOC-- Beta Evaluators Needed : Are you ready to experience the bleeding-edge of gaming? Emotiv is looking for a few good Beta Evaluators to help us fine tune our revolutionary product. Be the first to experience the interactivity of the Emotiv EPOC neuroheadset! As extra incentive, participants who fully complete a documented evaluation session will be granted a significant discount on their early edition direct-to-consumer Emotiv EPOC neuroheadset kit. Sessions will be conducted in March and April 2008 in the Emotiv offices located in San Francisco, California. These sessions generally involve non-invasive product usability testing and brainwave recordings. Each session will be approximately 1 hour (we also require you to arrive 15 minutes before the session start time). If you are interested, send Emotiv an email to: betatest (at) emotiv.com with the following information: * + First and Last Name * + Age * + Gender * + Phone Number * + Email Address * + Full Mailing Address (Street, City, State, Zip) * + Occupation * + Hat size (if known, otherwise a subjective head size: extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large) * + Dates that are you available in March and April 2008 * + Preferred time of day to participate (morning / afternoon / evening) * + Are you a regular gamer? * + Have you participated in product beta testing or usability testing before? * + Tell us something interesting about yourself that would make you the ideal "Emotivated" candidate! An Emotiv representative will contact you if you have been selected for the Beta Evaluations. Please note, incomplete submissions will NOT be considered. You must be 18 or older to participate and will be required to sign Non-Disclosure and Beta Evaluator Agreements. email Emotiv... Emotiv Consumer Product - Launch Event : On Tuesday 19th February 2008, we will unveil the world's first consumer brain computer interface in an exclusive event jointly hosted by CMP and Emotiv. A limited number of passes will be available to developers to attend this history making event. For more information please see our Events page . more... Game Developer Conference 2008 : After making waves at GDC 2007 with the alpha version of the Emotiv neuroheadset, we are going to take it to another level at GDC 2008 . Developers will be able to try first-hand our beta neuroheadset and SDK at our Booth . In addition, we will be presenting on the latest neuro-technologies and its application for the games industry. more... Press Coverage Video : Video highlites of Emotiv's press coverage during GDC 2007 more... This is an article I posted last year on my blog, for comparison --- In bioelectromagnetics@yahoogroups.com, Scott_Hill@... wrote: > > Brainball and Brainpong, biofeedback meets PC-gaming > by Scott Hill > Copenhagen 2.12.2001 > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE > Scott_Hill@... > > An interactive expo--NIC2001-- opening today in Copenhagen's Bella > center presents a number of new interactive hardward and software > projects. From Sweden's Interactive Institute > (http://smart.interactiveinstitute.se/smart/smart_eng/press_eng.htm) > 2 players can > play "Brainball", where they use their brainwave activity to "move" a > ball back and forth. Using electrodes fastened to their heads > the alpha wave frequency spectrum is measured, and the less alpha > activity (perhaps related to greater relaxation), the > longer the player can move his ball towards his opponent. According > to Interactive Institute: > "Brainball (is) the game where you score goals with your brain. > Brainball is a new party game devised by elite Swedish > interdisciplinary researchers. The rules are simple: the player with > the least brain activity wins, the stressed, thinking opponent loses. > Biosensors connected to the brains of the players > read alpha and theta waves which guide a ball bearing over a playing > board towards the opposing goal. Brainball came about > as part of a project involving co-operation between artists, > engineers and designers at the Interactive Institute." > The game can be downloaded free from the Interactive Institue > website. "This game is radically different from other games, which > typically reward agressive behavior" says Bengt Larsson from > Interactive, "If you think too much about winning, you lose!" he says. > The ball is controlled by magnetic fields, run by the output from the > brainwave machine. > > Another brain-mind-PC games has been developed by som finnish art > students from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. > (http://www.uiah.fi/) > They revived the "computer stoneage game" Pong in a radical new form. > In the new version, the screen image is projected onto a > horizontal plane (f.eks. a table). Inside the projector is also a > camera, which catches hand movements which are made over the > screen display, so they can send "a virtual ball" back and forth > between their hands.

The frontier sciences group is in the news--at least on the web--nearly every week. Since it is very difficult to do comprehensive searches every day to see who has picked up on our blogs, posted articles, printed articles, etc. I have done the natural thing, and created an "intelligen agent" to automatically do the work for me!! Every week, I get an "alert" from various search engines about who has posted, commented, or picked up on our stuff, so here is this weeks alert from Google: frontierscientist Google Alert - "frontier sciences" Google Blogs Alert for: "frontier sciences" free WiFi network for "wireless social hippies"? By andy black(andy black) FREE for wireless hippies! posted today on the frontier sciences network and the mobile monday network Free WiFi network for "social hippies"? af Scott Hill, 7. feb 10:14 the Finnish company Saunalahti announces ’Wippies’ (from ... Andys Black Hole - http://andysblackhole.blogspot.com/ Danish cancer society admits US radar may cause cancer By Scott Hill biophysicist frontier sciences group Copenhagen frontiersciences@gmail.com The Danish cancer society, www.cancer.dk, has finally admitted that Danish military personnel in Denmark and Greenland, among other places, ... frontiersciences - http://frontiersciences.spaces.live.com/ Evidence of the Paradigm Shift - by Franci Prowse By African Rose(African Rose) Rubik is the founding director of the Center for Frontier Sciences at Temple University, Philadelphia. This article was adapted by Christian de Quincey from Dr. Rubik's presentation at the Heart of Healing conference. ... African Rose - I ruminate therefore... - http://roseafrica.blogspot.com/ Google Web Alert for: "frontier sciences" Temple University home page The Mid-Atlantic Laboratory for Student Success (LSS), one of ten Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) funded by the US Department of Education to ... Here is this weeks search from Miscrosofts new Live search engine (www.live.com) of which live spaces is a part: Resultater * TV 2 Blog - HVAD ER FRONTIER SCIENCES? Tirsdag, 11. december 2007 kl. 13:24 / mobilstråler kræft parotid kirtl Ny forsøg vedr. mobilstråler og kræft 0 kommentarer | Rapportér/anmeld | Send til en ven o blog.tv2.dk/frontierscientist o · Cachelagret side * Frontier Bookshop Frontier Bookshop heeft een uitgebreid assortiment aan boeken, tijdschriften, DVD's, video's, instrumenten en ... o www.frontierbookshop.nl o · Cachelagret side * Frontier Magazine Eerder verschenen nummers >> Nu ... Wie is FSF? | Contact © Frontier Sciences Foundation 2007 o www.frontiermagazine.nl Resultater * frontiersciences frontiersciences ... Send en meddelelse; Abonner på RSS-feed; Giv en ven besked; Føj til Min MSN; Føj til Live.com; Inviter som ven; Tilmeld dig til at modtage beskeder; Søg i ... o frontiersciences.spaces.live.com o · Cachelagret side * frontiersciences frontiersciences ... Send en meddelelse; Abonner på RSS-feed; Giv en ven besked; Føj til Min MSN; Føj til Live.com; Inviter som ven; Tilmeld dig til at modtage beskeder; Søg i ... o frontiersciences.spaces.live.com/ wiki/Cluster_(novels) o · 08-02-2008 o · Cachelagret side o Vis flere resultater fra frontiersciences.spaces.live.com * Groupcare http://members.fortunecity.se/frontiersciences Gruppen administreres af: Scott Hill ( ) Antal medlemmer i gruppen: 6: Top : Naturvidenskab og teknik : Medicin o www.groupcare.dk/da/group.asp?d=0&groupid= 386823 o · Cachelagret side * Groupcare frontiersciences (6 medlemmer) Bestille viagra,,cialis,reductil 70% billiger (5 medlemmer) Biotechnology Transfer (5 medlemmer) graviditet og overvaegt (5 medlemmer) o groupcare.dk/da/catalog.asp?d=0&categoryid= 90 o · Cachelagret side o Vis flere resultater fra groupcare.dk * Overskrift.dk - dating ru søgeresultat By Scott Hill biophysicist frontier sciences group Copenhagen frontiersciences@gmail.com The Danish cancer society, www.cancer.dk, has finally admitted that Danish military ... o overskrift.dk/searchresult.php?q=dating+ru& searchtype=contents o · 08-02-2008 o · Cachelagret side * Tilmelding til Alerts Konkurrencen om det bedste på frontiersciences tilbyder nu Windows Live®-beskeder! Denne service sikrer, at du modtager vigtige meddelelser via din Windows Live® Messenger eller ... o signup.alerts.live.com/alerts/userSignup.do? partner=spaces&ut=http:// frontiersciences.spac... o · Cachelagret side * Mobile Monday Copenhagen | Version2 16/01 2008 the frontier sciences mobile blog is available for free on www.jaiku.com on the following channels: #frontiersciences #momocopenhagen o www.version2.dk/grupper/MobileMonday o · 09-02-2008 o · Cachelagret side * Mobile Monday Copenhagen - Forum | Version2 frontiersciences #momocopenhagen it is free to subscribe to RSS feeds on Jaiku! Scott Hill aikus on channel #frontiersciences * Wednesday, 16 January 2008 o www.version2.dk/grupper/MobileMonday/forum/ 5766 o · Cachelagret side o Vis flere resultater fra www.version2.dk * MySpace.com - Scott - 58 - Male - - www.myspace.com/frontiersciences ... MySpace profile for Scott with pictures, videos, personal blog, interests, information about me and more o www.myspace.com/frontiersciences o · Cachelagret side * ActiveDeveloper.dk - Profil for professoren Websted: http://surf.to/frontiersciences: Community status: Gratis medlem: Beløb doneret: kr 0,00 (dette er summen af alle de beløb som Scott Hill har doneret o activedeveloper.dk/community/profil.asp?id= 3847 Resultater * frontierscientist » 2006 » September Velkommen til http://frontiersciences. Urbanblog.dk . Jeg vil fortælle om de seneste nyt fra frontier sciences (grænsevidenskaber) i dette blog. o frontierscientist.urbanblog.dk/2006/09 o · Cachelagret side * Welcome to The Email Service/Website FRONTIERSCIENCES.zzn.com is now available. Signup now and claim this great name FREE!. Create a free website and let all your friends and family get ... o frontiersciences.zzn.com o · Cachelagret side * TV 2 Blog - HVAD ER FRONTIER SCIENCES? - nanogenerator for ... frontiersciences Says: January 4th, 2007 at 2:15 pm This describes one technique for generating bioelectricity from motion. frontierscientist Science 9 September 2005: o blog.tv2.dk/frontierscientist/ entry60225.html o · Cachelagret side * TV 2 Blog - HVAD ER FRONTIER SCIENCES? - frontier sciences mobilblog Torsdag, 12. juli 2007 kl. 13:10 / internet frontier sciences mobilblog 1 kommentar | Rapportér/anmeld | Send til en ven Jeg ha oprettet en mobilblog på frontiersciences for at ... o blog.tv2.dk/frontierscientist/ entry121718.html o · Cachelagret side o Vis flere resultater fra blog.tv2.dk * members.fortunecity.se This is the homepage of the Frontier Sciences European Network, with headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. Our Research director is Scott Hill, an American Scientist living in ... o members.fortunecity.se/frontiersciences o · Cachelagret side * 24Timer ... på TV2-bloggen på: http://blog.tv2.dk/frontierscientist/entry197737.html eller fra min englesk-sprogede blog på MSN spaces og myspace.com! http://www.myspace.com/frontiersciences ... o 24timer.dk/24t/forums/show/5/80.page o · 09-02-2008 o · Cachelagret side * Computerworld - TeliaSonera på vej med mobil browser med reklamer fra frontiersciences microblog på: www.jaiku.com channel: #MoMoCopenhagen o www.computerworld.dk/art/41926?a=rss&i= 0 * Computerworld - TeliaSonera på vej med mobil browser med reklamer fra frontiersciences microblog på: www.jaiku.com channel: #MoMoCopenhagen o www.computerworld.dk/art/41926 o Vis flere resultater fra www.computerworld.dk * Einsteins teori om rumtidens krumning bevist | Ingeniøren ... fysikverden idag da 2 tyske fysiker fra Koblenz Uni påstår at de har brudt lysets hastigheds rekord!! Du kan læse mere på min frontier sciences blog på: http://frontiersciences ... o ing.dk/artikel/77698 o · Cachelagret side * Solution of n-Queen problem by GA Graduate School of FrontierSciences. The University of Tokyo. Japan. Email: topon@ibalab ... o 157.82.246.154/english/userlog.cgi? queenrun o · Cachelagret side

"Join the world wide wippie revolution" is the slogan for a new WiFi service from Finland..FREE for wireless hippies! posted today on the frontier sciences network and the mobile monday network Free WiFi network for "social hippies"? af Scott Hill, 7. feb 10:14 the Finnish company Saunalahti announces ’Wippies’ (from ’Wireless Hippies’), a WiFi-sharing newtork smiliar to FON which is already very popular in Europe. At the moment, Sanualahti is offering FREE WiFi routers to new customers in Finland and Sweden, as well as free webmail accounts, under the slogan "join the wireless hippies revolution". The FON concept is already very popular in Denmark, with thousands of sites already, and is spreading like wildfire through Europe and the US...however FON requires a startup fee and you have to pay for the router... We will be following the progress of "Wippies" closely and I have already inquired when the service will be available in Denmark. frontierscientist World Wide Wippies Map of Wippies WiFi networks Wippies WifiBox > Secure wireless network for your home > Free delivered to you (worth 29,90, incl delivery) > Order now! (12 month commitment) Wippies HomeBox > ADSL2/2+ modem up to 24 Mbit/s. > Secure WLAN network for your home or office. > VoIP support > Firewall > Works automatically with most ADSL lines (supported VPI/VCI values: 0/100 and 0/33, only bridged connections with a dynamic IP, no PPPoA/E) > Connections: ADSL, 2 x Ethernet, 2 x USB master, 2 x VoIP, WLAN with 3 SSIDs (home, mobile VoIP, Wippies visitors) > Price 79,- (incl delivery) > Now free (12 month commitment), order now! Be connected, always! Order the free Wippies WifiBox or the multi-purpose Wippies HomeBox and you can get connected at home and everywhere. With the WifiBox or the HomeBox you can set up a wireless network to connect one or more computers and any other WiFi enabled devices to the Internet using your existing Internet connection. In exchange, other Wippies close by can also connect to the net using your wireless network. World Wide Wippies is a secure way to share your Internet connection with other users. When you need all the bandwith for yourself, your guests will not block or slow down your connection. The guests are connected to a separate Wippies WiFi network, so your security is never compromised. By sharing your Internet connection you naturally have the right to use the connections of all other Wippies members that have set up their WiFi networks. Just scan the vicinity with your laptop or other WiFi device and connect to the Wippies network! So, by giving a little you get a lot, and did we already mention this: It's all FREE! Wippies WifiBox - the free wireless network * Get a free Wifi router and set up a wireless network at your home or office in no time! * The Wippies WifiBox is sent to you by mail without any cost at all and you can start using it immediately, there's no need to go through complicated settings. * Available now in Finland! Wippies HomeBox - your perfect connection center * The affordable all-in-one ADSL2+ / Wifi wireless router connects you to your ADSL line and provides * The router includes a firewall and VoIP functionality, with support for upcoming features such as home automation, web cameras, on demand video, etc. * Easy installation gets you surfing the net in no time: just connect the DSL line and power up * Special offer: Get a completely free HomeBox! Available for the fastest beta testers, currently only in Finland & Sweden.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5 Feb 2008 Danish cancer society admits that US military radar gave soldiers and airmen cancer--40 years later! By Scott Hill biophysicist frontier sciences group Copenhagen frontiersciences@gmail.com The Danish cancer society, www.cancer.dk, has finally admitted that Danish military personnel in Denmark and Greenland, among other places, have been exposed to dangerous amounts of ionizing radiation due to radar and radium 226. As a member of NATO, Denmark has a number of missile and radar installations, dating back to the 1960's, which were manufactured in the US, including HAWK batteries, Nike-AJAX batteries, Nike-HERCULES batteries, and a number of early defence early warning radar installations, DEW, which includes installations in Greenland. For years there has been debate in the Danish media and among human-rights, NGO and military veterans groups, about whether exposure to military electrical equipment, including missile guidance radar, target acquisition radar, and defenece-early warning (DEW) radar, as well as the more modern "over the horizon radar" can cause, or has caused cancer. According to cancer.dk, they now admit that there were problems with the early radar installations but now claim that military radar installations are safe! "early radar facilities...were built in a way, so that were dangerous for personnel, who operated them....the thyratrons (powerful radio senders based on tubes)..which sat in cases under the rotating radar diskes, sent out soft X-rays, which are ionizing radiation. Also some radar installations were outfitted with radioactive paint on buttons and readouts, which contained radium 226, which is a radioactive material dangerous for contamination of the body, and can cause cancer..." according to the report. However, there are a number of inaccuracies in the report, which was published this week in Denmark. Firstly, the Danish Cancer Society claims that they "were not aware" of any problems in this area until 5 years ago, when the complaints of 136 military personnel were revealed in a Danish TV program "21 Sunday" ....secondly, they claim that military personnel have only been exposed for 26 years, wheras the actual fact is that the first US radars were set up in European Nato countries already in the early 1960's --more than 40 years ago! A similar scandal was revealed years ago, when Danish and Greenland personnel at Thule Base, northern Greenland, complained that they had been exposed to nuclear material in connection with a US bomber crash, where radioactive material from one or more bombs was spread out over a large area of the icesheet and snow, which was manually removed in barrels by the personnel....by the time the Danish government offered compensation to the victims and famalies of this "radioactive cleanup", many years later, most of the afflicted personnel were already dead! And this was after official denials by the Danish Government and medical groups for over 3 decades that there was a problem! As international researchers know, these dangers associated with military radio, radar, and other electrical installations were already known in the 1970's, and were mentioned in my book "cycles of Heaven" in 1978 and "The zapping of America" (1977) and other books by Paul Brodeur and others in the 1970's and 1980's, long before the Danish Cancer Society "discovered" this area of investigation! I am investigating this coverup and will be reporting soon on updates. This booklist is from Amazon.com and googlebooks.com You can buy the out-of-print books by myself and Paul from amazon You can see which library in your area might have a copy from googlebooks Your university library should have a copy of both books!! 1. The cycles of heaven: Cosmic forces and what they are doing to you The cycles of heaven: Cosmic forces and what they are doing to you by Scott Hill (Unknown Binding - 1978) 12 Used & new 2. Cycles of Heaven Cycles of Heaven by Guy L. Playfair and Scott Hill (Mass Market Paperback - Aug 1979) 20 Used & new Other Editions: Hardcover 3. THE CYCLES OF HEAVEN - Cosmic Forces and What They Are Doing To You THE CYCLES OF HEAVEN - Cosmic Forces and What They Are Doing To You by Guy Lyon; Hill, Scott Playfair (Paperback - 1979) 3 Used & new from $14.97 1. The Zapping of America: Microwaves, Their Deadly Risk, and the Coverup 3. Zapping of America Zapping of America by Paul Brodeur (Hardcover - 1977) 4. The Zapping of America Micrwaves Their Deadly Risk and the Cover Up The Zapping of America Micrwaves Their Deadly Risk and the Cover Up by PAUL BRODEUR (Hardcover - 1977) 5. Cartographies of Danger: Mapping Hazards in America Cartographies of Danger: Mapping Hazards in America by Mark Monmonier (Paperback - Oct 1, 1998) Buy new: $15.00 18 Used & new from $8.50 4.8 out of 5 stars (4) Other Editions: Hardcover Excerpt - Back Matter: "... (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1993); and Paul Brodeur, The Zapping of America: Microwaves, Their Deadly Risk, and the Cover-Up (New York: W. ..." Surprise me! See a random page in this book. Other Editions: Kindle Edition, Paperback Excerpt - page 40: "... on microwave-induced dangers much earlier: see, for example, Paul Brodeur, Zapping of America: Microwaves, Their Deadly Risk, and the Cover-Up (New York: Norton, ..." Surprise me! See a random page in this book. 7. Zapping of America: Microwaves, Their Deadly Risk and Cover-Up Zapping of America: Microwaves, Their Deadly Risk and Cover-Up by Paul Brodeur (Paperback - Jan 1977)

For those of you who have been following the debate on the possible biological and health effects of weak electromagnetic waves, such as emitted by radar, microwave towers and ovens, cellphones, hospital and industrial equipment, etc. you have probably already heard of the EU INTERPHONE project, which was started several years ago under framework program 6 of the European Union, and financed with several million euros of taxpayer money....I have been researching this area for over 30 years, and have written hundreds of post on the internet in this area.... Today, I recieved a very alarming email from Dr. Slesin, editor of the microwave news, a watchdog on bio-EMF legislation, research, and public health issues, published in the U.S. Dr. Slesin believes there is a conspiracy to supress certain INTERPHONE research data, which may point to a connection between mobile cellphone radiation and brain tumors!! If this is true, it is a major scandal in the European Union, which conducts public research with our tax money!! I am now investigating this claim and will be posting news periodically....you can also follow my blogs on www.myspace.com/frontiersciences and on YahooGroups at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/bioelectromagnetics/ You can also see a video of cellphone radiation hazards at: http://www.cellphone-health.com/ http://www.globalchange.com/radiation.htm http://www.earthpulse.com/src/subcategory.asp?catid=4&subcatid=3 http://ezinearticles.com/?Cell-Phone-Radiation,-Senility-and-Brain-Cancer&id=168235 http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/cellphonecancer.php Here is the article from the online version of Microwave News: Home Page SET INTERPHONE FREE January 30... It's time to end the deadlock. It's time to release the results of the Interphone study, the largest and most expensive cell phone epidemiological study ever attempted. Any further delay would be close to scandalous. A draft of the final paper with the combined data from the 13 participating countries was completed close to two years ago. One member of the Interphone team —Canada's Dan Krewski— has said that the holdup is due to disagreements over editing the manuscript, that is, changing a comma here or a comma there. We doubt that what's going on. Krewski told us this close to six months ago and the paper has still not been submitted for publication. The real reason, we believe, is that the study shows that there are tumor risks following long-term use of a mobile phone and that some of the Interphone researchers don't want to go public. Why? As Elisabeth Cardis, the Interphone study director, explained last October, the interpretation of the data is "not straightforward" (see our October 9 post). This allows one faction to hold up the process by arguing that there is no point scaring the public if the elevated risk estimates may be spurious. At the same time, the worldwide wireless industry —now worth on the order of a trillion dollars— and the governments that tax them are applying pressure, subtle or otherwise, to keep the lid on. The willingness of some Interphone players to downplay the risks has been apparent for a long time. Here's how U.K.'s Tony Swerdlow, advised the press on an Interphone acoustic neuroma study back in 2005: "The results of our study suggest that there is no substantial risk of in the first decade after starting use. Whether there are longer-term risks remains unknown…" This was, to put it kindly, outright misdirection. The published paper indicated a statistically significant increased risk after ten years on the side of the head the phone was used. That finding was even in the study's abstract. The next day's headlines were predictable. "Mobile Phone Cancer Link Rejected," the BBC announced. This 1995 study was based on the pooled data from five Interphone countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the U.K. Last year, researchers from those same five countries reported a parallel elevated, ipsilateral risk for brain tumors after ten years. Add to those five, the German and the French Interphone groups. Both have also reported increased risks of brain tumors after ten years (see our January 29, 2006 post and September 19, 2007 post, respectively). A few weeks ago, the French Ministry of Health called for precaution with respect to the use of mobile phones by children. In December, the Interphone team from Israel brought a third type of tumor —of the parotid gland— into play. (The gland lies just under the skin in the area of the cheek near the ear.) One striking finding was the "exceptionally heavy" use of mobile phones among Israelis. Not only was there an elevated tumor risk, but it showed up earlier, often in less than ten years. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Siegal Sadetzki, the leader of the Israeli Interphone group, also called for a precautionary approach to cell phones. "The time is past when it could be said that this technology does not cause damage; apparently it damages health," she said. We asked Sadetzki what she could tell us about the risks of brain tumors and acoustic neuromas among Israelis. She declined to comment saying only that these results had not yet been submitted for publication. They may well be a key indicator of the long-term risks and need to be made public. The absence of the Interphone paper has made it easy to avoid dealing with all the signals that point to a cancer risk. A good example is the list of research priorities from the National Academy of Sciences, released on January 17. It skirted the critical data from seven different Interphone countries because, we were told, the Interphone final report was not yet in hand (see below). Just how absurd the situation has become was apparent at a workshop on Dosimetry Meets Epidemiology hosted by the Swiss National Research Program on Non-Ionizing Radiation (NFP57) in Zurich on January 11. Many of those attending were working on, or had some connection to, the Interphone study, including four of the principal investigators (Anssi Auvinen, Elisabeth Cardis, Maria Feychting and Joachim Schüz). Yet, Interphone was never discussed. Everyone ignored the 800-pound gorilla in the room. It's easy to see why some people are getting more and more nervous about long-term cell phone use. If Interphone does in fact point to a tumor risk as many observers now believe, the public should be informed. Parents should warn their children. Two billion cell phone users deserve to know what only a select few know now. The next step would be to fund more research. The code of silence about Interphone must end. Public health demands it. Elisabeth Cardis is leaving IARC on March 21st to join the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) in Barcelona. The Interphone paper should be submitted for publication before she leaves Lyon —in a journal which can expedite the review process. The sooner the results are posted on the Internet and available to all, the better.

There has been a lot of debate recently on the health effects of miclrowave radiation including radiation from cellphones, mobile masts, microwave ovens, radar, and industrial apparatus. This debate has been ongoing for over 30 years and the frontier sciences group has been on the forefront of research in this arera since 1970...we have published books, articles, and hundreds of internet posts in this area so if you want to learn more about this exciting--and controverrsial--area, there is a lot of material out there! Today the US National Research Council (NRC) and National Academy of Sciences (NAS) have published a new report on the hazards of cellphone radiation and this has renewed the debate on the subject, hightlight once more the fact that so-called experts in the field are NOT in agreement, and that MORE RESEARCH is called for, which is welcome news for us researchers who are looking for funding! Here in europe, the EU commission has support certain--but not all--rresearch in this area through the INTERPHONE research program under Framework Program 6, and I have commented this rersearch in more detail on the bioelectromagnetics research group on Yahoo tech groups for the last 6 years; more debate on this subject will be published soon, so keep tuned to frontier sciences for the latest buzz! http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/bioelectromagnetics/ frontierscientist January 17... The NAS-NRC report, released today (see January 15 below), presents a list of research needs to better understand the possible health effects of RF radiation. What's missing is any sense of priorities. The NAS-NRC committee that prepared the report fails to indicate whether characterizing a child's exposure from a cell phone is more important than doing an epidemiological study of children who use them; or whether mechanistic studies are more important than laboratory toxicology experiments. "We were told not to put priorities on the research needs," Frank Barnes, the chair of the NAS-NRC panel, told Microwave News in a telephone interview from his office at the University of Colorado in Boulder. "They were quite strict about this." When asked who "they" were, Barnes replied that he is not sure whether the order came from the NAS-NRC or from the FDA, which requested the report. "It does not make much sense to me," Barnes said, "I would have defined our mission differently." Another notable omission is a discussion of the results from the Interphone project. Barnes explained that this was because the final Interphone paper is not yet available. But that's only part of the story. The report does comment on an Interphone methodological analysis —suggesting that selection bias would lead to underestimating the tumor risks— yet it does not acknowledge that published papers from a number of the participating countries, either alone or in a group, have found that long-term users of cell phones have higher rates of two types of tumors (acoustic neuromas and brain tumors). The Israeli study pointing to an increased risk of a third type of tumor, of the parotid gland, among heavy cell phone users came too late (December 6) to be included, according to Barnes. The report does allow that, "The pending results of the Interphone study... are likely to have a major influence on the direction and scope of future research concerning the use of cellular phones and cancer." But why did the NAS-NRC panel not address the disquieting findings published to date? They too would have prompted an imperative to do more research, especially if the panel had noted that the Interphone results are largely consistent with the Swedish studies of Lennart Hardell and Kjell Hansson Mild. Most close observers now believe that the epidemiological data show that a health risk from mobile phones can no longer be dismissed. (That's what a senior and well-connected member of the bioelectromagnetic community told us recently.) No one involved with this new report, not the committee, not the NAS-NRC, not the FDA and certainly not the cell phone industry, which paid for it, had any interest in fostering a sense of urgency to step up the pace of health studies, especially in the U.S., where RF research is moribund. The NAS-NRC committee may not have wanted to highlight the epi findings but it was not reticent about dismissing the controversial and, for many still unresolved, field of RF genotoxicity. The panel favored Vijayalaxmi's and Joe Roti Roti's view that RF radiation cannot cause DNA breaks, and thereby rejected the work of Henry Lai, among others. "[M]ost investigators in the field agree that no compelling body of evidence exists to support the hypothesis that RF fields are genotoxic," they wrote. Other studies pointing to effects on DNA —such as those from Austria and China— are not cited. The only panel member with direct experience with the RF–DNA work is France's Bernard Veyret, who has openly feuded with the Austrian group, led by Hugo Rüdiger at the University of Vienna. Score one for Veyret. Lai, Roti Roti and Vijayalaxmi each gave a talk at a workshop hosted by the NAS-NRC panel last August (see our August 10 post). Barnes told us that the report was "mostly" based on what was presented at the August workshop. Who at the NAS-NRC selected the workshop speakers is not known. Barnes could not shed any light on this but said that, "We tried to have as much diversity of opinion as we could." Nor is it clear who picked the reviewers of the committee's report. What does come across is that the NAS-NRC was unmoved by those who urged it to limit industry influence. At the time the committee's membership was made public, some asked that Leeka Kheifets, a long-time associate of EPRI, the research arm of the electric utility industry, be removed from the panel. The NAS-NRC not only rejected this appeal but later sought advice from another EPRI staffer, Gabor Mezei. The other surprising choice for a reviewer is Teri Vierima of Resources Strategies Inc., a consulting firm that lists EPRI and a host of wireless companies as clients. Rick Jostes, the NAS-NRC study director, no doubt played a key role in selecting both the workshop speakers and reviewers of the panel's report. Jostes, widely viewed as a skeptic of low-level RF biological effects, retired on December 31. January 15... On Thursday, January 17, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council (NAS-NRC) will release its report on what types of research, if any, are needed to address potential health effects of radiation used for wireless communications. The report, which was requested by the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), marks the closing chapter of the cooperative research agreement (or CRADA) between the CTIA, the trade association of the cell phone and wireless industries, and the CDRH. The CTIA sponsored the project. Frank Barnes of the University of Colorado, Boulder, chaired the NAS-NRC committee that wrote the report. Back in June, the Center for Science in the Public Interest criticized the makeup of the panel for being too heavily weighted with physicists and engineers at the expense of biologists and for having ties to industry. The NAS-NRC hosted a workshop last summer to review gaps in knowledge of RF biological effects (see our August 10 comment.) You can see these comments online at www.microwavenews.com National Research Council calls for further studies on cellphone radiation By Jeffrey Silva Story posted: January 18, 2008 - 1:29 pm EDT on RCR wireless news: A National Research Council report calls for more research into the potential health effects of long-term exposure to radiation emitted by cellphones and other wireless devices, with U.S. scientists anxious to gather more data on any risks posed to children, pregnant women and fetuses by handsets as well as base station antennas. “Although it is unknown whether children are more susceptible to radio-frequency exposure, they may be at increased risk because of their developing organ and tissue systems,” the NRC stated in a press release. “Additionally, specific absorption rates for children are likely to be higher than for adults, because exposure wavelength is closer to the whole-body resonance frequency for shorter individuals. The current generation of children will also experience a longer period of RF field exposure from mobile-phone use than adults, because they will most likely start using them at an early age. The report notes that several surveys have shown a steep increase in mobile-phone ownership among children, but virtually no relevant studies of human populations at present examine health effects in this population.” Government health experts in the United Kingdom and France have cautioned on mobile-phone use by children. Much of the research conducted in the United States and overseas has examined the effects short-term exposure of mobile-phone radiation on healthy adults. The results have been mixed, thereby providing government health officials no definitive indication that cellphones are dangerous to the billions of mobile-phone subscribers around the world. Even so, cellular carriers and manufacturers have been hit with a slew of product liability lawsuits since the early 1990s, when the controversy first caught fire. The mobile-phone industry has not been found liable in any litigation to date, however. The NAS report, sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, was not focused on potential health risks but rather on the current state of research and on how additional studies could further the understanding of how mobile phones interact with human biology. The NAS noted, for example, that most studies have been based on pull-out linear rod antennas that are held against an individual’s ear. But since newer handsets have recessed, built-in antennas, NAS said additional SAR data are needed. NAS also said that because wireless technology is now used in laptop computers and other devices, the antennas are close to other parts of the body and thus needs to be investigated.

For those of you who are hard of hearing, or work in busy, noisy places .....apparently there has been a lot of research and development on bonephones or phones which use sound couduction through the skeleton instead of speakers or headphones, as the first bonephone is due to be marketed in the USA later this year....I also hear that DoCoMo in Japan is working on a model, so if you are hard of hearing or have high noise polilution problems, this may be the answer for you! What we need now is a device for deaf or hearing-impaired people who can't use normal phones at all, to supplement the signlanguage phones using mobile video to connect to deaf people..... frontierscientist p.s. for technofreakts: BonePhone is a telephony application using SIP for audio data communication negotiation. It utilizes RAT from the UCL for audio data processing and transport. It uses the NIST-SIP protocol stack for signaling. Bone Conduction Headset Assures You're Heard Loud and Clear By Wired Blogs EmailJuly 07, 2006 | 9:01:00 AMCategories: Phones Just because you can get mobile-phone reception on the subway doesn't mean the person you're speaking to can hear you. Unless, of course, you have the Invisio Q7 Bluetooth headset. The Invisio Q7 doesn't have a microphone. Instead, it uses bone-conduction technology to convert the vibrations from your jaw into sound, making it perfect for ballgames, concerts and any other noisy public place you like to hold your private conversations. It'll be available later this year exclusively at RadioShack (in the USA ) for $200.''' NTT DoCoMo develop 'Finger phone' using bone conduction from Mobile Technology (646 articles) Tuesday December 16, 2003 Next time you notice someone sticking their finger in their ear in a public space, don't assume that it's just poor etiquette - they could be on an important call. This wearable telephone handset under development by Japanese telco NTT DoCoMo transforms the human hand into an active part of the receiver using bone conduction.FingerWhisper consists of a watch-like unit worn on the wrist that converts incoming sounds into vibrations that it sends through the bones to the tip of the index finger.The user can then hear the conversation by simply placing the tip of the finger in their ear.The device has been in development since 1996 when researchers began investigating whether bone conduction could be viably integrated into mobile phone design. Given that a conventional handset can't be made too small without being impractical to talk and hear at the same time, the concept seeks to think outside the squre by eliminating both the speaker and the keypad from the equation.In the Finger Whisper design, the latter is replaced by an accelerometer that can detect the tapping action of fingers and enable finger tapping combinations to replace physical buttons on a keypad - for example one tap may signify 'hang up'. According to NTT DoCoMo approximately 30 commands can be issued based on a 5-stroke tapping sequence.The advantage of using bone conduction - which is alreading being integrated into headsets - is that it works well in noisy environments and allows the user to speak at a lower volume of voice compared with standard handsets.The process of taking calls on the wearable phone is natural and unlikely to attract any extra attention because it looks like the user is utlising a normal mobile handset.NTT DoCoMo has also developed a 'conventional' mobile handset called Wristomo that can be worn like a watch and removed for making calls. Tags: bone conduction

A new study based on the INTERPHONE Eu data has been published this week with data from Israel. Dr. Siegal Sadetzki1 from Cancer and Radiation Epidemiology Unit, Gertner Institute, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel and clolleagues has published an epidemilogical study on 460 patients over 18 years who have been diagnosed with Benign and Malignant Parotid Gland Tumors in the period 2001 to 2003 and compared them with 1266 control subjects. Strangely, the overall results do not show a strong correlation, but subsets of users with higher cellphone use in rural areas, DO show a correlation, but mostly for benign parotid tumors. This is an unexpected result! The study is published in Am. J. Epidemiol. as a "web pre-publish" Siegal Sadetzki , Angela Chetrit , Avital Jarus-Hakak , Elisabeth Cardis , Yonit Deutch , Shay Duvdevani , Ahuva Zultan , Ilya Novikov , Laurence Freedman , and Michael Wolf Cellular Phone Use and Risk of Benign and Malignant Parotid Gland Tumors—A Nationwide Case-Control Study American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published on December 6, 2007, DOI 10.1093/aje/kwm325. Scott Hill frontier sciences group

Ah, just what we needed, a nanoradio!! In the race to develop nanodevices, California has now been the first to develop a nanotube-based radio, which actually plays music!! Hmmm..I wonder if I can upload some of the tracks to my site...? Scott from Dr. Dobb's journal: World's Smallest Radio Built; Still Plays Bad Music And you thought the iPod was a breakthrough in terms of size and decibels. Well, just up the road from Apple, physicists at the University of California, Berkeley have built the smallest radio yet--a single carbon nanotube dubbed the Nanotuberadio that's one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. So what did these scientists want to hear the radio play? Derek & The Dominos' rendition of "Layla" and the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." Which goes to show that the good scientists know more about good science than good music. Not exactly Alexander Graham Bell's "Mr. Watson, come here I want you" but close enough. The nanoradio, which is currently configured as a receiver but could work as a transmitter, is 100 billion times smaller than the first commercial radio, and could be used in applications such as cell phones and microscopic sensors, according to team leader and physics professor Alex Zettl. Zettl, Kenneth Jensen, Jeff Weldon, and Henry Garcia came up with a way of building a single carbon nanotube that works as an all-in-one antenna, tuner, amplifier, and demodulator for both AM and FM. The nanoradio detects radio signals by vibrating thousands to millions of times per second in tune with the radio wave. In normal radios, ambient radio waves from different transmitting stations generate small currents at different frequencies in the antenna, while a tuner selects one of these frequencies to amplify. In the nanoradio, the nanotube, as the antenna, detects radio waves mechanically by vibrating at radio frequencies. The nanotube is placed in a vacuum and hooked to a battery, which covers its tip with negatively charged electrons, and the electric field of the radio wave pushes and pulls the tip thousands to millions of times per second. -- Jonathan Erickson jerickson@ddj.com From the University of California's nanowebsite: Nanotube Radio: Supplementary materials K. Jensen, J. Weldon, H. Garcia, and A. Zettl Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems, University of California at Berkeley Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A. The following media files are intended for public access. Please contact A. Zettl or K. Jensen for permission before reproducing any of these images, videos, or audio files or alterations of them. All rights reserved ©2007. Introduction We have constructed a fully functional, fully integrated radio receiver, orders-of-magnitude smaller than any previous radio, from a single carbon nanotube. The single nanotube serves, at once, as all major components of a radio: antenna, tuner, amplifier, and demodulator. Moreover, the antenna and tuner are implemented in a radically different manner than traditional radios, receiving signals via high frequency mechanical vibrations of the nanotube rather than through traditional electrical means. We have already used the nanotube radio to receive and play music from FM radio transmissions such as Layla by Eric Clapton (Derek and the Dominos) and the Beach Boy's Good Vibrations. The nanotube radio's extremely small size could enable radical new applications such as radio controlled devices small enough to exist in the human bloodstream, or simply smaller, cheaper, and more efficient wireless devices such as cellular phones. Videos If you use any of the following videos, please include the credit "Courtesy Zettl Research Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California at Berkeley." A high resolution transmission electron microscope allows us to observe the nanotube radio in action. We have recorded four videos from the electron microscope of the nanotube radio playing four different songs. At the beginning of each video, the nanotube radio is tuned to a different frequency than that of the transmitted radio signal. Thus, the nanotube does not vibrate, and only static noise can be heard. As the radio is brought into tune with the transmitted signal, the nanotube begins to vibrate, which blurs its image in the video, and at the same time, the music becomes audible. The four songs are Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys, Largo from the opera Xerxes by Handel (this was the first song ever transmitted using radio), Layla by Eric Clapton (Derek & the Dominos), and the Main Title from Star Wars by John Williams. Good Vibrations (Quicktime, 8.06 MB) Layla (Quicktime, 6.13 MB) Largo (Quicktime, 8.73 MB) Star Wars (Quicktime, 8.68 MB) This simulation shows the electric field surrounding the nanotube radio during radio operation. Notice how the field is strongest at the tip of the nanotube and how the field varies as the nanotube vibrates. This effect allows the nanotube radio to demodulate radio signals. Nanotube radio simulation movie (Quicktime 15.3 MB) Still Images If you use any of the following images, please include the credit "Courtesy Zettl Research Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California at Berkeley." Over the past century, radio has shrunk dramatically from the wooden "cathedral" style radios of the 1930s to the pocket-sized transistor radios of the 1950s and more recently to the single-chip radios found in cell phones and wireless sensors. Continuing this trend, we have further miniaturized the radio by cleverly implementing multiple radio functions with a single component, the carbon nanotube. This nanotube radio is over nineteen orders-of-magnitude smaller than the Philco vacuum tube radio from the 1930s! Nanotube radio timeline and size comparison1,2 (TIFF 29.5 MB) Nanotube radio timeline and size comparison (small)1,2 (JPEG 96.4 KB) Images, taken by a transmission electron microscope, show a single carbon nanotube protruding from an electrode. This nanotube is less than a micron long and only ten nanometers wide, or 10000 times thinner than the width of a single human hair. When a radio wave of a specific frequency impinges on the nanotube it begins to vibrate vigorously. An electric field applied to the nanotube forces electrons to be emitted from its tip. This electrical current may be used to detect the mechanical vibrations of the nanotube, and thus listen to the radio waves. (The waves shown in this image were added for visual effect, and are not part of the original microscope image.) Nanotube radio tower (TIFF 26.0 MB) Nanotube radio tower (small) (JPEG 71.7 KB) Nanotube radio tower without waves (TIFF 26.0 MB) Nanotube radio tower without waves (small) (JPEG 541 KB) This simulation shows the electric field surrounding the nanotube radio during radio operation. Notice how the field is strongest at the tip of the nanotube and how the field varies as the nanotube vibrates. This effect allows the nanotube radio to demodulate radio signals. Nanotube radio simulation (TIFF 1.45 MB) Nanotube radio simulation (small) (JPEG 47.8 KB) Nanotube radio simulation movie (Quicktime 15.3 MB) Audio If you use any of the following audio files, please include the credit "Courtesy Zettl Research Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California at Berkeley." Layla by Eric Clapton (Derek & the Dominos) was the first song played on the nanotube radio. The entire received song may be downloaded below. Though there is a significant amount of static noise, the song is easily recognizable. All of this was accomplished with none of the external circuitry to filter or process the signal typically found in macroscopic radios. Layla (entire song) (WAV 2.82 MB) Acknowledgements This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation within the Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems and by the US Department of Energy. References [1] The Philco and Regency radios were photographed by Gregory Maxwell and are subject to the GNU Free Documentation License as described here. [2] The Smartdust image was published in B. A. Warneke, et al, Proc. IEEE Sensors, vol. 2, 2002, pp. 1510. Last modified: Fri Nov 02 09:46:19 Pacific Daylight Time 2007

You have probably alrerady heard about the SETA@home project, where you "loan" your idle computer CPU time out to the Search for Extraterrestial Life project....which turns the internet into one giant computer cluster for math-intensive calculations. But did you know that you can also help the UNESCO nuclear research center CERN discover new particles by opening your computer ? Scott Cern computing project moves to London Posted by Nicole Kobie at 3:21PM, Thursday 18th October 2007 The UK's GridPP project is taking the lead in the LHC@home project, which uses spare computing power on people's PCs to analyse data about the Cern particle accelerator. LHC@home, a project that lets the public donate spare computing power to Cern scientists, has moved from its Geneva home to the GridPP project at Queen Mary, University of London. The distributed computing project uses volunteers' desktop machines to help run simulations of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), to ensure that protons travelling the 27 kilometre circuit stay in their orbits. The LHC is set to start operations at Cern next year, and is being used to search for evidence of the Higgs particle, by recreating the conditions of the universe just after the Big Bang. "Like its larger cousin, SETI@home, LHC@home uses the spare computing power on people's desks," said Dr Alex Owen, who runs the project in the UK. "But rather than searching for aliens, LHC@home models the progress of sub-atomic particles traveling at nearly the speed of light around Europe's newest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)." So far, over 40,000 people from 100 countries have run LHC@home, contributing what would equal 3,000 years computing on a single machine. The programme is baesd on the BOINC platform, which also runs the Search for Extraterristrial Intelligence (SETI) project, as well as distributed computing projects for modelling climate change and the spread of disesases. "We started trial running LHC@home from a computer server in the UK in June, and have spent the last few months working with the physicists who use the data it produces. Now, with the official launch of the UK base for the project, we're ready to fully exploit this fantastic resource," said Neasan O'Neill of GridPP. The programme will eventually be used for other particle physics research, such as modelling the operations of different parts of the particle detectors. The actual processing of the expected 15 million gigabytes of data that the LHC will produce annually will be handled by a grid computing network built by 17 universities and research centres across the UK.

MIT's Media lab was co-sponsor for an interesting conference this week on "wearable computing"...along with "intelligent textiles" and "nanotech electronics"--both subjects which I have already posted on, this could be the new trend for the millenium of software, hardware, and internet technology merging together! The Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) hosts the website of the symposium , and I enclose a copy of the program for technofreaks. Scott Fashionable Computing: Here, and Now? Wearablecomputing_3 Maybe so, based on the International Symposium on Wearable Computing (ISWC) conference that was held in Boston this week. The overriding focus was on "wearable computing", which included small badges that aggregate and analyze body language and speech patterns. Created by some graduate students from MIT's Media Lab, the analysis is thought to provide feedback on the emotional and intellectual engagement two people are feeling in a conversation. This information would be sent to another device, to provide feedback to the wearers. The completely innocent use is to help people in service positions understand their customers better, for example... You know it's coming. Another gadget that would benefit those of us who sit riveted to (and likely slumped front of) a computer screen all day could purchase a shirt that's made of thread sensors that monitor your posture. Not sure what that alarm would sound like, though I suspect it wouldn't be a barking "Sit up straight!" that so many people heard through their childhood. If we need flashbacks, we'll just watch the reality show described above. There's really good news for those of you that have chronically high blood pressure from shooting dirty looks at fellow drivers who are fiddling with their iPod. A prototype of some gloves were shown that come geared up with sensors. A finger squeeze gives the user control over portable music devices, so your hand is literally your remote control. The ISWC conference was keynoted by Sarcos CEO, Dr. Stephen Jacsobsen, and Dr. Melody Moore, Georgia Tech Associate Professor and Director of Georgia Tech's BrainLab. For more highlights from this futuristically-fueled gadget extravaganza, check out MSNBC's coverage here. Posted by Susan Emmens. Thaniks to MSNBC and the MIT media lab for this one! Program of the11lth annual conference on wearable computins sponsored by the IEEE full progam available at: http://iswc.net/ Session 1: Gesture Recognition and Interfaces (Thursday 11:00am-12:20pm) Hambone: A Bio-Acoustic Gesture Interface Travis Deyle, Szabolcs Palinko, Erika Shehan Poole, and Thad Starner Hand Gesture Recognition Research Based Surface EMG Sensors and 2D-accelerometers Xiang Chen, Xu Zhang, Zhang-Yan Zhao, Ji-Hai Yang, Vuokko Lantz, and Kong-Qiao Wang The Gesture Watch: A Wireless Contact-free Gesture based Wrist Interface Jungsoo Kim, Jiasheng He, Kent Lyons, and Thad Starner A Framework for 3D Spatial Gesture Design and Modeling Using a Wearable Input Device Doo Young Kwon and Markus Gross Session 2: Activity and Context Recognition (Thursday 2:00-3:10pm) Recognizing Upper Body Postures using Textile Strain Sensors Corinne Mattmann, Oliver Amft, Holger Harms, Gerhard Troester, and Frank Clemens Real-Time Recognition of Physical Activities and Their Intensities Using Wireless Accelerometers and a Heart Rate Monitor Emmanuel Munguia Tapia, Stephen S. Intille, William Haskell, Kent Larson, Julie Wright, Abby King, and Robert Friedman Fusion of String-Matched Templates for Continuous Activity Recognition Thomas Stiefmeier, Daniel Roggen, and Gerhard Troester Using FSR based Muscle Activity Monitoring to Recognize Manipulative Arm Gestures Georg Ogris, Matthias Kreil, and Paul Lukowicz Session 3: Applications and Evaluation (Friday 10:50-11:45am) MobZombies: A Wearable Sensor for a Playground Style Electronic Game Julian Bleecker, Mark Bolas, Will Carter, Perry Hoberman, and Aaron Meyers Multi-Platform Crime Scene Investigation Field Tool James Cross, Chris Baber, and Paul Smith Evaluation of Five Interruption Methods for Speech Interaction in Wearable Computing Dual-Task Environments Hendrik Witt Session 4: Power Considerations (Friday 2:15-2:55pm) KLEM: A Method for Predicting User Interaction Time and System Energy Consumption during Application Design Lu Luo and Daniel P. Siewiorek Selective Sampling Strategies to Conserve Power in Context Aware Systems Brian French, Daniel P. Siewiorek, Asim Smailagic, and Michael Deisher Session 5: Input, Navigation, and Augmented Reality (Friday 3:30-4:35pm) Handy AR: Markerless Inspection of Augmented Reality Objects Using Fingertip Tracking Taehee Lee and Tobias Hollerer SWAN: System for Wearable Audio Navigation Jeff Wilson, Bruce N. Walker, Jeffrey Lindsay, Craig Cambias, and Frank Dellaert A Text Input Interface using a Portable Clavier for Pianists Yoshinari Takegawa, Tsutomu Terada, and Shojiro Nishio Posters Using a PCB Layout Tool to Create Embroidered Circuits George F. Eichinger III, Kara Baumann, Thomas Martin, and Mark Jones Browsing Patient Records During Ward Rounds With a Body Worn Gyroscope Andreas Zinnen, Bernt Schiele, Thomas Ziegert An Information Layout Method for an Optical See-through HMD Considering the Background Kohei Tanaka, Yasue Kishino, Masakazu Miyamae, Tsutomu Terada, and Shojiro Nishio Pointing with Accelerometers for Wearable Computing Yohei Tokoro, Masahiko Tsukamoto, Kunihiko Muramatsu, and Shinichi Hosomi Learning an Orchestra Conductor's Technique Using a Wearable Sensor Platform Dominik Schmidt, Roger B. Dannenberg, Asim Smailagic, Daniel P. Siewiorek, and Bernd B?gge Using Acceleration Signatures from Everyday Activities for On-body Device Location Kai Kunze and Paul Lukowicz Improving Accuracy of WLAN-Based Location Estimation by Using Recursive Estimation Takahiko Mase, Yasushi Hirano, Shoji Kajita, and Kenji Mase A Wearable for Physical Abuse Detection Adam Whiton and Yolita Nugent A Comparative Evaluation of Bend Sensors for Wearable Applications Lucy E. Dunne, Barry Smyth, and Brian Caulfield Evaluating the Impact of Garment Style on Wearable Sensor Performance Lucy E. Dunne, Barry Smyth, and Brian Caulfield Preparation and Characterization of New Type PVA/CuxS Nano Composite Conductive Fiber Ryokei Endo, Shigetoshi Amiya, Hideya Takahashi, and Eiji Shimizu Demonstrations “It is often better to show than to tell” is a common mantra when attempting to convey ideas. ISWC demonstrations allow attendees to interact directly with prototypes described in the papers and in up-and-coming work in the field. Doctoral Consortium A relatively new tradition, the doctoral consortium supports both early and experienced students in their research by providing feedback from their peers and experts in the wearable computing field. This year, the doctoral consortium occurs before the main ISWC program, but the students are requested to present posters on their work so that all attendees may get a preview of what these students are investigating. Gadget Show A popular attraction, the gadget show gives attendees one minute to demonstrate cool or intriguing devices they have created, bought, or modified. To have your own 1-minute of fame, just come to the gadget show and get in line with your device! Exhibits Businesses and academic institutions exhibit their wares throughout the conference. See what is new and get some hands-on wearable computing experience.

Having trouble getting things to stick?? Nature may have supplied the answer in terms of biocoatings using the sticky stuff mussels produce. If you have every tried to glue on EEG or EKG electrodes onto a hairly subject, you will know what I am talking about!! Will this solve the biosensor problem, and keep them from falling off during prolonged experiments, spaceflights, hiG environments, etc? Scott Sticky Mussels Inspire Biomedical Engineer Yet Again ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2007) — Mussels are delicious when cooked in a white wine broth, but they also have two other well-known qualities before they're put in a pot: they stick to virtually all inorganic and organic surfaces, and they stick with amazing tenacity. See also: Plants & Animals Northwestern University biomedical engineer Phillip B. Messersmith already has developed a material that mimics the strength of the bonds; now he has produced a versatile coating method that mimics the mussels' ability to attach to a wide variety of objects. Messersmith and his research team, in a study to be published in the Oct. 19 issue of the journal Science, report that a broad variety of materials can be coated and functionalized through the application of a surface layer of polydopamine. Potential applications of the simple and inexpensive method include flexible electronics, such as bendable and flexible displays, biosensors, medical devices, marine anti-fouling coatings, and water processing and treatment, such as removing heavy metals from contaminated water. Key to the coating method is the small molecule dopamine, commonly known as a neurotransmitter. Dopamine, it turns out, is a good mimic of the essential components of mussel adhesive proteins, and the researchers use it as a building block for polymer coatings. (Dopamine itself is not found in mussels.) So, like a mussel, Messersmith's coating sticks to anything. "This is an astonishingly simple and versatile approach to functional surface modification of materials," said Messersmith, professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, who led the research. "We dissolve dopamine, which we buy at low cost, in a beaker of water exposed to air. We adjust the water's pH to marine pH, about 8.5, put in an object and several hours later it's coated with a thin film of polydopamine. That's it." Solid objects of any size and shape can be immersed in the solution. (The dopamine solution is very dilute -- only two milligrams of dopamine per one milliliter of water.) At marine pH, there are chemical changes in the dopamine molecule that result in polymerization of the molecules together to form a polymer, polydopamine, which coats the object. The polymer is fairly similar to what is found in the mussel adhesive protein. And to make things more interesting, the polydopamine coating, in turn, provides a very chemically reactive surface onto which the researchers can deposit a second coating. And because the surface is so reactive in so many different ways, a wide variety of second coatings can be applied. "We take advantage of that reactivity to apply the second layer," said Messersmith. "As a simple example, I could put an iPod in the dopamine solution, and a thin polydopamine coating would form. Then I could take it out and put it in a metal salt solution and form a coating of copper or silver." This second coating, depending on what it is, promises to take researchers and industry in multiple directions as far as applications go. In addition to cladding objects with metal coatings, this includes inhibiting biofouling of materials (such as for medical devices), engineering surfaces to support biospecific interactions with cells (such as for culture and expansion of stem cells) and applying self-assembled monolayers to nonmetal surfaces (such as for biosensors). Messersmith and his colleagues tested the two-step process on 25 different substrate materials (but not an iPod) with a wide range of characteristics representing all major classes of materials, from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, from inorganic to organic, as well as the traditionally difficult material Teflon, all with positive results. They then demonstrated deposition of metal and organic coatings and self-assembled monolayers onto the polydopamine coating. "Existing methods for modifying material surfaces are fairly restricted to specific materials -- what works well on glass would not work well on gold," said Messersmith. "Our method is a much more general strategy for a variety of surfaces. We haven't found a material to which we can't apply polydopamine." In addition to Messersmith, other authors of the paper, titled "Mussel-Inspired Surface Chemistry for Multifunctional Coatings," are Haeshin Lee (lead author) and Shara M. Dellatore, both graduate students, and William M. Miller, professor of chemical and biological engineering, all from Northwestern. Adapted from materials provided by Northwestern University. Shown above are mussels attached to a rock (left) and Teflon (right). Mussels' ability to adhere to all inorganic and organic surfaces inspired a new multifunctional coating strategy. (Credit: Image courtesy of Northwestern University) Related Stories Study Reveals Details Of Mussels' Tenacious Bonds (Aug. 16, 2006) — When it comes to sticking power, marine mussels are hard to beat. They can adhere to virtually all inorganic and organic surfaces, sustaining their tenacious bonds in saltwater, including turbulent ... > read more Compound Developed From Mussels May Lead To Safer, More Effective Medical Implants (Apr. 8, 2003) — Medical implants may soon get better at preventing life-threatening clogs and bacterial infections thanks to an unusual coating that is being developed from mussels, according to researchers at ... > read more Synthetic Adhesive Mimics Sticking Powers Of Gecko And Mussel (Jul. 18, 2007) — Biomedical engineers have married the gecko's adhesive ability with that of an animal well known for its sticking power underwater: the mussel. Combining the important elements of gecko and mussel ... > read more Virginia Tech Fisheries Department Releases Cultivated Mussels At Nature Conservancy Site (Jun. 22, 2005) — Seven years after a toxic spill wiped out aquatic life along seven miles of the Clinch River 17,000 mussels were released into the river at Cedar Bluff in Southwest Virginia. Virginia Tech's College ... > read more Study Of Aquatic Mussels Indicates They May Yield New Antifouling Materials, Surgical Adhesives (Jun. 5, 2002) — New insights into how aquatic mussels bind tightly to rocks and other surfaces could lead to surgical applications and improved adhesives, it was reported at the Great Lakes Regional meeting of the ... > read more A Fishy Change In Diet: McGill Research Shows Fish Eating Junk Food (Sep. 29, 2004) — The junk food phenomenon has hit bottom- the bottom of the St. Lawrence River. According to McGill University researchers, some freshwater fish are opting out of their usual diet of insects and ... > read more Why Are Freshwater Mussels In Decline? (Sep. 21, 2007) — North America's diverse community of freshwater mussels has been on the decline for decades and is presently considered one of the continent's most endangered groups of animals. Mussels are a ... > read more Scientists Study Link Between Zebra Mussels And Algae Blooms (Sep. 22, 1998) — Zebra mussels, once just a Great Lakes problem, are taking over the nation's inland lakes - an invasion MSU scientists think is rocking the ecosystem. Once a lake is infested with zebra mussels, ... > read more Thanx to ScienceDaily.com for the tip!

According to the New Scientist online edition today, Microsoft has applied for a patent for a "mind-reading" device--presumeably for use while we are shopping and surfing the net--and I must say I am not suprised! Whether this approach will actually work or not, remains to be seen. A Danish Company, called I-motion, started as an idea only a few years ago and attracted venture capital rather quickly, in fact they are now expanding to the US and may show up on the stock market near you soon (remember you heard it first here on frontiersciences!) . The idea? quite simple: measure the eye movement while people are looking at ads and see how their eyes move and where they move to!! I applied as a test subject for testing here in Copenhagen, but was rejected because I am nearsighted and wear glasses...so if you are afraid of someone reading your rapid eye movements, just get a set of shades and you will foil their plan....however, shielding your brainwaves may be a more difficult game, like Magneto's metal helmet in "the fantastic four" to keep out Dr. Xavier's telepathic braintapping, but who knows, there may be a market for it.... Scott Monday, October 15, 2007 Microsoft mind reading Not content with running your computer, Microsoft now wants to read your mind too. The company says that it is hard to properly evaluate the way people interact with computers since questioning them at the time is distracting and asking questions later may not produce reliable answers. "Human beings are often poor reporters of their own actions," the company says. Instead, Microsoft wants to read the data straight from the user's brain as he or she works away. They plan to do this using electroencephalograms (EEGs) to record electrical signals within the brain. The trouble is that EEG data is filled with artefacts caused, for example, by blinking or involuntary actions, and this is hard to tease apart from the cognitive data that Microsoft would like to study. So the company has come up with a method for filtering EEG data in such a way that it separates useful cognitive information from the not-so-useful non-cognitive stuff. The company hopes that the data will better enable to them to design user interfaces that people find easy to use. Whether users will want Microsoft reading their brain waves is another matter altogether. Read the full Microsoft mind reading patent application here: Justin Mullins, New Scientist contributor Labels: brain-signals, computers, eeg, interfaces, microsoft * Posted by Will at 12:07 PM Comments: All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please let us know, quoting the comment in question. The shock value here is not mind-reading, which would be very limited in depth (basically some degree of emotional response) and only on people who agreed to wear the EEG sensors. No, the shock is that they think this can be patented. Usability testing is nothing new, even using non-reported measures such as eye movement and physiological recording. According to the patent application itself, it's also nothing new to record EEG in order to recognize responses (description point 0022 gives the example of a startle response pattern in the EEG). Doesn't applying EEG to usability testing meet the definition of "obvious"? The description of the machine learning system basically just says they will use a Bayesian net, also not new. By Anonymous on October 15, 2007 5:12 PM If some technology can be developed to gauge a user's satifaction and frustration levels, this would be incredibly helpful (to them). In other words, more subtle, not readily observable clues that people generally refrain from sharing this could be useful in understanding the true useability of mouse versus a trackball in different audiences and diverse demographics (old, young, very young, etc). This could lead to a roadmap for the most appropriate time to introduce each technology to users that would yield the highest productivity. A bit scary, but all truly useful technology is a bit scary. By Anonymous on October 15, 2007 10:08 PM The shock isn't that they think it can be patented. The shock is that as a society we have forced them to patent it. Microsoft, IBM, Google, Apple, you name it are forced to patent any and everything. Microsoft will never enforce this patent, they never do enforce one unless threatened over a similarily lame patent. This does however protect them from the growing thread of society that would patent this had Microsoft not and then sue them over it. By Anonymous on October 15, 2007 10:58 PM The news on Microsoft research in this area has been around for a while: Mind Reading Software No matter how novel the patent is, it will be a long while before it has any value. By Bob on October 16, 2007 12:40 AM "it will be a long while before it has any value." With the laziness of the average Wall Martian, and the hype that can easily be put behind it, i think it would be popular. Another aspect i can see being particularly useful, Military roles, helo pilot,any pilot for that matter, or i suppose anyone operating anything that would have required hands before. Imagine a Drone flying in wherever nasty scary things happen, and a person watching the screen from far away on a Navy Battleship piloting it with thier thoughts. Sign me up!!! Its probably being tested in an Air Force hangar somewhere. To useful not to.But i dont think most americans would want it on thier heads. Or would they??? By wally on October 16, 2007 1:14 AM That sounds fascinating. A blink of an eye will be enough to cause a fatal runtime error with windows. Hehehe. Seriously, it it works it will be definitely very useful. Then they can check if Apple is really better and more user friendly than Windows. By Peter on October 16, 2007 1:43 PM on the other side - kinda reminds me of the space pen thing. The us developed the space pen while the Russians just used a pencil in space. By Peter on October 16, 2007 1:46 PM Such research is "a must" in IT. Very helpfull function could be to accomodate program interface to human need, such interface may provide great satisfaction of daily work and entertaiment. Users are to stupid to communicate all their needs with computers, main problems here are - assembler and computer architecture - ergo, computers are forced to understand users. By Anonymous on October 16, 2007 2:28 PM I sure don't want Chimpy and his thugs getting ahold of this techology. Or Hillary for that matter. There goes your right to privacy. By Anonymous on October 16, 2007 9:38 PM The patent was filed in February 2006 - why are you mentioning it so late!!! By partha on October 16, 2007 10:18 PM Man this stuff is old, http://www.emotiv.com (just an example, theres plenty of older stuff/ideas floating around since at least 20years back) Looks like ms just trying to steal patents again.. By Half-Dead on October 16, 2007 10:57 PM The Microsoft PATENT was submitted in order to have a TIME overlay of Brain EEG/having the opinion that MS-is reading your mind is partly absurd..in actuality..they are asking a very INTENSE/Question useing the Brain-EEG..I read the article about their SUBMISSION for a Patent and think it reasonable..what I did wonder about was the PLACEMENT of the READING-elecrodes...I think this is a PATENT..belonging too another...so what about the furthering of the technology if MS asks its own with no regard for others that also ask the same..I think Microsoft is on a very good path for engineering some new profit in Digital/reality. By msm-001 on October 17, 2007 12:51 AM The patent is more for the method of filtering out relevant from irrelevant feedback. Sadly, this is very close to a patent idea I sent them almost 12 years ago and never followed up on. Time to go looking for my old documentation. Step 2 of this line of thought is using the rudimentary signals that you can understand from the CNS to interact with the computer. In my original outline, it was to be done by reading nerve impulse along the base of the brain and allow the mind to "think" the body was acting on some movement, but the signals would be blocked or intercepted before the body actually moved. By Some Tech Guy on October 17, 2007 12:01 PM Well not only to think how it will be implimented into their computers and their usertechnology, but also think of some other branches they have such as their console gaming. With this kind of patent and with the research that will be done and be revolutionary to the world. It may seem that it'd be making people dumber if they only had to put on a type of hat just to play videogames and stare at the screen. I think that mental interraction such as this would exersise more of thinking rather than sheer instinct. And if utilized and combined with technologys coming from Nintendo just imagine the possibilities with MS able to read EEG and Nintendo's motion and force-sensitive hardware. By Anonymous on October 17, 2007 4:08 PM They did not develop it. Like most of their stuff, it's a bad implimentation of other people's work. People around the world have been working on this for decades and there are already retail products that do this and more for several years now - mostly for the physically disabled. By Anonymous on October 17, 2007 8:14 PM More info http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosignal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosignal http://openemg.free.fr By Anonymous on October 17, 2007 10:32 PM Regardless how they're accomplishing the readings, I think that if they get to a point where actions on the screen are collected with precision in the eeg scan then they can reverse the process. Teach users to evoke the correct thoughts for a given task and the computer will act. By Anonymous on October 18, 2007 8:56 PM Pith sound

I have been looking into the "brain-computer interface" devices, or BCI, lately to see how far gamers will go to get "mind-over-matter" capabilities. The first BCI interfaces are now on the market, and now the dark side of the story is emerging, in that prolonged use of BCI in games may lead to unwanted side effects on the brain. Is there a dark side to the ultimate brain game? Scott Direct Brain-to-Game Interface Worries Scientists By Emmet Cole Email 09.05.07 | 2:00 AM NeuroSky's headset technology is being used in tandem with a software development kit to create BCI-based games. The first titles are expected to hit store shelves in 2008. Image: NeuroSky Your brain might be your next videogame controller. That might sound pretty awesome, but the prospect of brain-controlled virtual joysticks has some scientists worried that games might end up controlling our brains. Several makers of brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs -- devices that facilitate operating a computer by thought alone -- claim the technology is poised to jump from the medical sector into the consumer gaming world in 2008. Companies including Emotiv Systems and NeuroSky say they've released BCI-based software-development kits. Gaming companies may release BCI games next year, but many scientists worry that users brains' might be subject to negative effects. For example, the devices sometimes force users to slow down their brain waves. Afterward, users have reported trouble focusing their attention. "Imagine that somebody uses a game with slow brain-wave activity and then drives a car while still in that state," says Niels Birbaumer, a leading independent researcher in medical applications of BCIs. "You could have an accident. I think it's a rare possibility, but it should be tested before people do this." Consumer BCIs use noninvasive electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors attached to the scalp to detect brain-wave patterns. The signals are amplified and digitized, so a computer can process the information. BCIs can allow game players to move around and manipulate objects within virtual game environments, using thought alone. They can also detect and monitor the brain-wave patterns associated with a person's emotional state and stress levels. The technology (both implanted and noninvasive versions) has been successfully tested in quadriplegics, helping patients move a cursor on a computer screen, turn switches on and off, and operate a wheelchair. But when it's used for sheer entertainment, scientists worry that gamers will experience the effects of neurofeedback -- a technique used to heighten awareness and control of brain waves by providing a real-time graphic representation of the user's brain wave activity. Biofeedback works similarly, using physiological information such as blood pressure, skin temperature and heart rate. For example, in a stress-reducing game created by Smart BrainGames for medical purposes, players can reach the optimum speed for driving a race car only when they're calm. But the Food and Drug Administration has approved the device only for relaxation and "muscle re-education," and the company doesn't believe it should be used as just a game. "From a clinical perspective, we are superconcerned about any use of this technology that's being touted as a toy or as entertainment," says Lindsay Greco, co-founder of Smart BrainGames. Emotiv and NeuroSky have their roots in medical technologies. University researchers are testing NeuroSky's technology to treat attention deficit disorder, depression, addictions and phobias, according to Greg Hyver, the company's vice president of marketing. Nevertheless, now that the companies have released development kits for games that would be strictly for fun, medical professionals are bristling. "Most biofeedback is used for clearly defined clinical purposes, specifically to try and eliminate or ameliorate a problem," says Alan Garos, president of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. "Using feedback of brain activity for non-therapeutic purposes is something that we have to look at carefully." BCIs are great for gamers with disabilities, but may not be so good for the general public, says Michelle Hinn, chair of the International Game Developers Association's Game Accessibility Special Interest Group, an advocacy group for creating mainstream games accessible to gamers with physical and cognitive disabilities. "I can't say that this (BCI-based games) won't cause attention deficits, because that's a very real possibility and a very real concern," says Hinn, who has a master's degree in psychology and is finishing a Ph.D. program in human-computer interaction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Most gaming companies contacted by Wired News, including LucasArts, Activision and Disney Interactive, would not comment on whether they're developing BCI games. Capcom and Eidos, however, say they're not.

While measurements of blood flow in the brain, including oxygen levels, is not in itself new, this combination of techniques may lead the way for non-verbal communications within the man-machine interface. Likewise, brainwave measurements in them selves are not new, but the Emotive approach to using brainwaves in online gaming is a breakthrough....see the Emotive mind-control UFO film on youtube!! Will blow your mind....!! Scott Source: Tufts University Date: October 2, 2007 More on: Computer Science, Information Technology, Communications, Neuroscience, Distributed Computing, Language Acquisition Technology Could Enable Computers To 'Read The Minds' Of Users Science Daily — Tufts University researchers are developing techniques that could allow computers to respond to users' thoughts of frustration -- too much work -- or boredom--too little work. Applying non-invasive and easily portable imaging technology in new ways, they hope to gain real-time insight into the brain's more subtle emotional cues and help provide a more efficient way to get work done. "New evaluation techniques that monitor user experiences while working with computers are increasingly necessary," said Robert Jacob, computer science professor and researcher. "One moment a user may be bored, and the next moment, the same user may be overwhelmed. Measuring mental workload, frustration and distraction is typically limited to qualitatively observing computer users or to administering surveys after completion of a task, potentially missing valuable insight into the users' changing experiences." Sergio Fantini, biomedical engineering professor, in conjunction with Jacob's human-computer interaction (HCI) group, is studying functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology that uses light to monitor brain blood flow as a proxy for workload stress a user may experience when performing an increasingly difficult task. A $445,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will allow the interdisciplinary team to incorporate real-time biomedical data with machine learning to produce a more in-tune computer user experience. Lighting up the brain "fNIRS is an emerging non-invasive, lightweight imaging tool which can measure blood oxygenation levels in the brain," said Fantini, also an associate dean for graduate education at Tufts' School of Engineering. The fNIRS device, which looks like a futuristic headband, uses laser diodes to send near-infrared light through the forehead at a relatively shallow depth--only two to three centimeters--to interact with the brain's frontal lobe. Light usually passes through the body's tissues, except when it encounters oxygenated or deoxygenated hemoglobin in the blood. Light waves are absorbed by the active, blood-filled areas of the brain and any remaining light is diffusely reflected to the fNIRS detectors. "fNIRS, like MRI, uses the idea that blood flow changes to compensate for the increased metabolic demands of the area of the brain that's being used," said Erin Solovey, a graduate researcher at the School of Engineering. "We don't know how specific we can be about identifying users' different emotional states," said Fantini. "However, the particular area of the brain where the blood flow change occurs should provide indications of the brain metabolic changes and by extension workload, which could be a proxy for emotions like frustration." In the initial experiments, Jacob and Fantini's groups determined how accurately fNIRS could register users' workload. While wearing the fNIRS device, test subjects viewed a multicolored cube consisting of eight smaller cubes with two, three or four different colors. As the cube rotated onscreen, subjects counted the number of colored squares in a series of 30 tasks. The fNIRS device and subsequent user surveys reflected greater difficulty as users kept track of increasing numbers of colors. The fNIRS data agreed with user surveys up to 83 percent of the time. The Tufts group will present its initial results on using fNIRS to detect the user workload experience at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) symposium on user interface software and technology, to be held Oct. 7 through 10 in Newport, R.I. "It seems that we can predict, with relatively high confidence, whether the subject was experiencing no workload, low workload, or high workload," said Leanne Hirshfield, a graduate researcher and lead author on the poster paper to be presented at the ACM symposium. Note: This story has been adapted from material provided by Tufts University. NSF funds “mind-reading” technology Could enable computers to tell how frustrated/bored you are with this article By Network World staff, Network World, 10/01/07 Comment Start a discussion print Print article Comment Comments (1) print Print article The National Science Foundation is funding research that could enable computers to respond to your levels of frustration or boredom. In other words, we're talking about "mind-reading" technology. Other stories on this topic NETWORK RESEARCH 15 more From quantum cryptography to the air guitar shirt. The Alpha Doggs blog For real-time research updates. Community Tufts University researchers are exploiting near-infrared spectroscopy technology that uses light to pick up on your emotional cues by monitoring brain blood flow. Read the latest WhitePaper - Managed SAN Solutions: iSCSI Storage for Growing Businesses Of course, for now you need to wear a funky headband to make it work (the headband "uses laser diodes to send near-infrared light through the forehead at a relatively shallow depth — only two to three centimeters — to interact with the brain’s frontal lobe," according to Tufts.) “New evaluation techniques that monitor user experiences while working with computers are increasingly necessary,” said Robert Jacob, computer science professor and researcher, in a statement. “One moment a user may be bored, and the next moment, the same user may be overwhelmed. Measuring mental workload, frustration and distraction is typically limited to qualitatively observing computer users or to administering surveys after completion of a task, potentially missing valuable insight into the users’ changing experiences.” Jacob is working with Sergio Fantini, biomedical engineering professor at Tufts, on the project funded by a $445,000 grant from the NSF. The Tufts group will present early test results at the Association for Computing Machinery symposium on user interface software and technology, to be held Oct. 7 through 10 in Newport, R.I. More from Tufts here. Mind-reading technologies aren't as rare as you might think. Earlier this year, a company announced a special helmet that enables video game players to communicate via their brainwaves with games. Read our Alpha Doggs blog for more on network-oriented research. Source: Tufts University Released: Mon 01-Oct-2007, 13:00 ET Printer-friendly Version Technology Could Enable Computers to "Read the Minds" of Users Libraries Science News Keywords BRAIN COMPUTER INTERFACE HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION FUNCTIONAL NEAR-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Description Tufts researchers are developing techniques that could allow computers to respond to users’ thoughts of frustration or boredom by applying functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology, which uses light to monitor brain blood flow as a proxy for user workload stress. The researchers hope to gain real-time insight into the brain’s emotional cues. Newswise — Tufts University researchers are developing techniques that could allow computers to respond to users’ thoughts of frustration — too much work — or boredom—too little work. Applying non-invasive and easily portable imaging technology in new ways, they hope to gain real-time insight into the brain’s more subtle emotional cues and help provide a more efficient way to get work done. “New evaluation techniques that monitor user experiences while working with computers are increasingly necessary,” said Robert Jacob, computer science professor and researcher. “One moment a user may be bored, and the next moment, the same user may be overwhelmed. Measuring mental workload, frustration and distraction is typically limited to qualitatively observing computer users or to administering surveys after completion of a task, potentially missing valuable insight into the users’ changing experiences.” Sergio Fantini, biomedical engineering professor, in conjunction with Jacob’s human-computer interaction (HCI) group, is studying functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology that uses light to monitor brain blood flow as a proxy for workload stress a user may experience when performing an increasingly difficult task. A $445,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will allow the interdisciplinary team to incorporate real-time biomedical data with machine learning to produce a more in-tune computer user experience. Lighting Up the Brain “fNIRS is an emerging non-invasive, lightweight imaging tool which can measure blood oxygenation levels in the brain,” said Fantini, also an associate dean for graduate education at Tufts’ School of Engineering. The fNIRS device, which looks like a futuristic headband, uses laser diodes to send near-infrared light through the forehead at a relatively shallow depth—only two to three centimeters—to interact with the brain’s frontal lobe. Light usually passes through the body’s tissues, except when it encounters oxygenated or deoxygenated hemoglobin in the blood. Light waves are absorbed by the active, blood-filled areas of the brain and any remaining light is diffusely reflected to the fNIRS detectors. “fNIRS, like MRI, uses the idea that blood flow changes to compensate for the increased metabolic demands of the area of the brain that’s being used,” said Erin Solovey, a graduate researcher at the School of Engineering. “We don’t know how specific we can be about identifying users’ different emotional states,” said Fantini. “However, the particular area of the brain where the blood flow change occurs should provide indications of the brain metabolic changes and by extension workload, which could be a proxy for emotions like frustration.” In the initial experiments, Jacob and Fantini’s groups determined how accurately fNIRS could register users’ workload. While wearing the fNIRS device, test subjects viewed a multicolored cube consisting of eight smaller cubes with two, three or four different colors. As the cube rotated onscreen, subjects counted the number of colored squares in a series of 30 tasks. The fNIRS device and subsequent user surveys reflected greater difficulty as users kept track of increasing numbers of colors. The fNIRS data agreed with user surveys up to 83 percent of the time. The Tufts group will present its initial results on using fNIRS to detect the user workload experience at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) symposium on user interface software and technology, to be held Oct. 7 through 10 in Newport, R.I. “It seems that we can predict, with relatively high confidence, whether the subject was experiencing no workload, low workload, or high workload,” said Leanne Hirshfield, a graduate researcher and lead author on the poster paper to be presented at the ACM symposium. Tufts University, located on three Massachusetts campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville, and Grafton, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier research universities in the United States. Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A growing number of innovative teaching and research initiatives span all Tufts campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across the university's schools is widely encouraged. © 2007 Newswise. All Rights Reserved. Emotiv touts mind control for video games By Ben Ames, IDG News Service, 03/07/07 Video game players might soon use their thoughts instead of joysticks to control on-screen characters, if they wear a helmet released Wednesday by Emotiv Systems I The "Project Epoc" headset looks like a bicycle racer's helmet, but instead of protecting the skull, it detects the brainwaves inside it, using technology similar to electroencephalography found in medical settings. Read the latest WhitePaper - Unified Wireless Switching: Enabling a Truly Converged Network Emotiv, a privately-held startup firm in San Francisco, has applied the technology to video games with the company's first product, the Emotiv Development Kit (EDK). The kit allows game developers to attach dozens of thoughts and emotions to the actions in their virtual worlds, Emotiv said. A game designed with EDK could allow players to move objects on the screen without touching a keyboard or joystick, make the character smile or wink when they do, or require a human player to stay calm so his character does not panic and reveal a hiding place in a stealth game. The headset is tuned finely enough to distinguish between a player's mental commands to lift a virtual item or to push, pull or spin it, Emotiv said. That could allow gamers to experience telekinesis, moving objects with their minds instead of their muscles like Star Wars' Jedi knights. Developers have long sought ways to let gamers interact in ways that offer more realism than simple devices such as joysticks. In November, Nintendo Co. Ltd. added physical motion to its system with the motion-sensitive Wii controller, while Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s PlayStation 3 use vibrating handsets. Developing a better gaming interface can mean big money for a technology company. On March 2, Sony lost a patent-infringement lawsuit, agreeing to pay US$90.7 million to Immersion Corp. for using its vibrating "haptic" technology. Microsoft had earlier agreed to pay $26 million. Now Emotiv's product could open a new range of options for developers. While computer games have evolved dramatically, user interfaces have remained fairly constant, according to Emotiv Board Director Ed Fries. Emotiv's EDK connects its headset to three pieces of software: an Expressiv application that identifies the user's facial expressions, an Affectiv application that measures players' emotional states and a Cognitiv application that detects players' conscious thoughts about lifting or rotating the objects they see. Other stories on this topic The company has not announced pricing for the EDK, but says the headset will be available to consumers in 2008. Emotiv is marketing its technology first to gamers, and plans to adapt it in the future for medicine, security, market research, accessibility design and interactive television. Brain Control Takes Gaming Out of Your Hands By Walaika Haskins TechNewsWorld 03/08/07 3:53 PM PT Emotiv Systems on Wednesday gave Game Developers Conference attendees a peek at its revolutionary brain computer interface and launched the Emotive Development Kit. Dubbed "Project Epoc," the first-of-its-kind technology can detect and process both a player's conscious thoughts and unconscious emotions, according to Emotiv. Taming Transactional Email To learn how to implement a powerful transactional email marketing program that enhances customer relationships while boosting ROI, download Silverpop's special report for tips, and to determine if outsourcing makes sense. Silverpop -- Your Partner for Email Marketing Success. Forget Nintendo Latest News about Nintendo Wii's Latest News about Wii motion-sensing controller. After less than six months on the market, Nintendo's groundbreaking video game controller technology may be on the way out following the unveiling of a new game platform that controls gameplay using a player's thoughts and emotions. Emotiv Systems gave attendees a peek at its revolutionary brain computer interface and launched the Emotive Development Kit (EDK) at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco Wednesday. "The games industry is ripe for a revolution in the way players interact with a game," said Nam Do, CEO and cofounder of Emotiv Systems. "Current interfaces, such as keyboards and controllers, are relatively basic and non-intuitive and are out of keeping with the sophistication levels of today's games and the movement towards more immersive environments." Brain Signals Dubbed "Project Epoc," the first-of-its-kind technology can detect and process both a player's conscious thoughts and unconscious emotions, according to Emotiv. Those brain signals are interpreted using a specially-equipped helmet and a suite of software applications that give computers the ability to distinguish particular thoughts such as lifting an object or rotating it; detect and replicate a user's expressions, including smiling or winking; and also respond to a player's emotions, such as excitement or calmness. Not only can the technology detect a user's "non-conscious" emotions, but it can also decipher feelings "represented by brain activity patterns" unique to that particular player, according to Emotiv. This differs from previous thought-sensing interfaces that were only able to detect a limited number of "mental states" and can interpret dozens of expressions, gestures and emotions. "The next major wave of technology innovation will change the way humans interact with computers," Do said. "As the massive adoption of concepts such as social networking and virtual worlds has proven, we are incorporating computer-based activities not only in the way we work, learn and communicate but also into the way we relax, socialize and entertain ourselves. "The next step is to enhance these experiences by making the way we interact with computers more lifelike. That's where Emotiv's highly disruptive technology comes in," he added. Under the Hood The Emotiv Development Kit consists of the helmet to which multiple sensors have been affixed in order to detect brain activity as well as a set of application development suites. Developers using "The Expressiv" suite can build facial expression recognition in real-time into a game, enabling the game's characters to respond to a player smiling or frowning. "The Affectiv" suite measures a player's underlying emotions, allowing a game to act in response to a player's growing excitement, for instance. Incorporating "The Cognitiv" suite into a game will give players the ability to control their interactions in the game by thinking about an action. During gameplay, the helmet's sensors register the electric signals whizzing through a player's brain and relays them to the system software. The software analyzes the signals and they are wirelessly transmitted to a receiver plugged into the USB Latest News about USB (universal serial bus) port of the game console or PC. The device learns more and is better able to interpret a player's thoughts each time it is used, according to Emotiv. Game Revolution The brain computer interface could indeed revolutionize the video game console and online game industry, David Hodgson, a gaming guru and author of gaming guides, told TechNewsWorld. However, there are "some significant hurdles the company would need to leap before the dream of controlling Mario with your brain can be realized," he said. "If these hurdles are addressed and masses of gamers can be swayed by the promise of seemingly telekinetic powers they have over their on-screen avatars, then yes, this could be revolutionary," Hodgson added. That said, it is imperative that the system Manage remotely with one interface -- the HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server. must fulfill a function that current controllers do not, Hodgson noted. "Is it easier to hit the X button and pick up a power-up, or to think your way to the power-up? Just because it's incredibly cool -- and it is -- doesn't mean it's practical in real gaming terms," he explained. Revolution Mechanics However, before the technology can make it into gamers' hands, Emotiv has to think seriously about how it will solve several problems, Hodgson stated. First, it will need a partner among the big three console makers -- Sony (NYSE: SNE) Latest News about Sony, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft and Nintendo. Emotiv's technology needs to be inside every box a new console comes in, whether current or next generation. "If they don't, many developers won't spend the man hours implementing specific programming code for the device," he noted. Next, the equipment will need to go from being seen as a contraption, to a solution that is more elegant than anything even Nintendo offers with its Wii Remote. If Emotiv cannot accomplish that, the technology is destined to go the way of the power glove -- an idea that didn't catch on, Hodgson said. In addition, the interface technology must offer gamers a better experience than any of the best controllers available today. "Just because it's freakin' cool -- and likely to be freakin' expensive, which is another concern -- doesn't mean it'll catch on if it only does half of what a controller currently does," he continued. Finally, the company needs to determine if gamers will want to wear a diode-filled bicycle helmet when they play games and address safety concerns. Nintendo's Virtual Boy was a pioneer in true 3D gaming, according to Hodgson. It had just one problem: "You had to hunch over, peer into a set of giant binoculars and usually had a splitting headache after 20 minutes," he stated. Aiding Gamers Nevertheless, the impact of wide adoption of the technology could be immense, Hodgson explained, adding that it would be a "godsend to fans of video games who can't currently use their hands due to a disability." It could also impact professional video game players. Instead of having gaming championships where the fastest reaction time and trigger finger wins in a game of "Quake" or "Gears of War," "you'd have competitions where the fastest brain wins," he noted. Consumers could see this in the next, next generation of video game consoles, such as the PS4 or Xbox 720 if large-scale developers opt to create code specifically for this contraption, and the device is championed by gaming industry heavyweights, and if Sony or Microsoft decides to, at the very least, add functionality for the item for most games, Hodgson predicted.