Bright Ideas: Thought Controlled Computing

Thought controlled computing, now that’s something everybody would love to see, right? Unfortunately it’s not like you’ll be able to paint a masterpiece just by visualizing the Mona Lisa. InteraXon has come up with what it calls Bright Ideas, which will allow visitors of the Winter Olympics to control the lights displayed at Toronto’s CN Tower, Ottawa’s parliament Buildings and Niagara Falls, all by using their thoughts. You’ll need to use a headset that measures the brain’s electrical output and reacts to alpha waves, associated with relaxation, as well as the beta waves, which are associated with concentration. As folks relax or focus their thoughts, the computer will send a message via the Internet to the site where they’re viewing, and the software will change the display on the landmark side. When it all falls into place, you’ll be in for a cool thought-generated light show at the landmarks. You do have to wonder, who would want to wear a weird headset during the Winter Olympics, though.