Every now and then a gimmick mind-control gesture is made from a technology company that tells people we’re a step closer to controlling computers with our minds. The Wall Street Journal has published an article on several such companies who are using a chip developed by San Jose-based NeuroSky Inc. that enables the manufacture of equipment that can “read people’s minds.”

Although not quite…the technology is still quite primitive, but it’s already being integrated into novelty toys and video game apparatus such as the 2009 Uncle Milton Inc. Star Wars force trainer toy. London-based MyndPlay Ltd. Is also making use of NeuroSky’s chip in order to allow people to control the outcome of movies by watching their mood during certain scenes.

The benefit of this technology is that it’s an EEG-standard that allows enough amplification of detectable electromagnetic activity on the surface of the brain (through the skull and scalp) that it doesn’t require shaving a person’s head, or embedding electrodes through the skull into the brain. The latter is how modern prosthetic researchers enable certain levels of mind-control for artificial limbs.

The technology has a long way to go, but here’s looking at the near future:

Among the offerings available in the company’s app store are desktop games like “MindHunter,” in which players must focus single-mindedly in order to fire a weapon, and meditation aids like “Mind Labyrinth,” which grants players access to 52 different levels of an ancient temple as their relaxation grows deeper. Most of the games cost between $5 and $20, but other offerings—like the “HocusFocus” attention-building game, billed as a serious educational tool—can cost as much as $150.

“There is going to be a whole ecosystem of new players, and NeuroSky is very well-positioned to be like the Intel of this new industry,” said Alvaro Fernandez, chief executive of SharpBrains, a brain-fitness analyst and consultancy. “They are to be inside a lot of what’s going on.”

London-based MyndPlay Ltd. is using NeuroSky chips inside its own headset to enable viewers to control the outcome of movie scenes by concentrating and relaxing. The company has a production studio that makes short films with alternate plot lines and endings

The idea of using EEG technology to make “mind-control” devices is not a new innovation in the controller sphere, in fact over 10 years ago—when I was in grade school—I have first-hand experience with a similar technology. It was also a visor-slash-halo that went over the head and touched the forehead and scalp in particular places and from what I understand it used metal leads to detect electrical activity emanating from the brain. It came with a game that allowed a player to guide a little dot through a maze.

The technology used by NeuroSky is still extremely similar to this older headset, according to the article. “The technology is still limiting, however, tracking mostly the brain’s ability to concentrate and relax but not specific, purposeful actions.”

In my experience, I quickly discovered that controlling the dot wasn’t just about “concentration” and “relaxation” but what I felt was “screaming” and “falling.” I also found out that by clenching and relaxing muscles in my scalp would trigger a reaction from the dot. As a result, in the limited time I had with the device (about 10 minutes) I became somewhat adept at moving the little dot through the maze just by contracting and relaxing scalp muscles.

Image credit: Brian L. Frank for The Wall Street Journal

Where is this technology going and when will it get there?

Physicians don’t read EEGs to figure out what a person is thinking about—in fact, the electrical activity detectable on the surface of the brain will probably never give us efficient controls for video games or computer UI. However, like the Wall Street Journal article mentions, the NeuroSky technology may be useful for games that calm people down or enhance their mood.

One thing that I’m looking forward to in technology is the next horizon for communications. We do have technology today that can detect and record “brain states” such as fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) but that requires huge equipment and giant magnets. It’s not the sort of tech that we’re going to miniaturize anytime soon; but when we do, it will probably be the interface to a whole new era.

I expand on the future of human technology with communications with the “halo” in my Kindle e-book novel Born to the Spectacle where cell phone technology takes to brain-mapping technology. Initially we’ll see “mind-controlled” become an aspect of machine-human interface; but really all that will give way to human-to-machine-to-human interfaces like every technology that allows humanity to interact at deeper levels.

We will probably see more movement towards wearable computing with mobile devices and augmented reality alongside artifice such as the Google Glasses before we start getting good, solid mind-control even for video games and novelty toys.