Movie mind controls discovered

Did you wish for Mel Gibson's William Wallace to escape the executioner's axe in Braveheart? Or for Jack Dawson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kate Winslet's Rose DeWitt Bukater to live happily ever after in Titanic?

New technology will allow film viewers to control key plot developments using the power of emotion, writes New Scientist.

The Myndplay system uses a headset to pick up the patterns of brain waves associated with different states of mind, and based on the readings, takes film stories in different directions to various possible endings.

In the films, the viewer takes the role of the protagonist. They can achieve positive outcomes for their character if they achieve either high levels of mental focus or relaxation at key plot junctures, as measured by a headset sensor measuring patterns of electrical activity in the brain.

“It brings a level of interactivity to video that has never been achieved before,” says Mohammed Azam, MD of Myndplay, based in London. “The viewer chooses who lives or dies, whether the good guy or the bad guy wins or whether the hero makes that all-important save.”

The experience is a cross between watching a film and playing a video game. It resembles a hi-tech version of the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' children's books.

Meanwhile, using telekinesis to zap pixels and using the brain to computer interface has already made its debut with Neurosky's mind control technology, according to The Inquirer.

The company pilfered medical science research to produce something far more interesting for fanbois lapping up next generation gaming technology.

Dubbed the Mind Wave, the technology made an appearance as last year's Star Wars Force Trainer where fanboys got to use the gizmo to become a Jedi. Who needs medical applications for a brain and computer interface when you can become a Jedi instead?

The Mind Wave headset has a lightweight mind sensing band going across the forehead and with a mic out in the front.

It looks like no big games developers have jumped on board to release mind control titles. However it does have 12 bespoke games and comes with Myndplay software, which is a mind control media player.