Google Glass is already the tech of the super technophile and early adopter. It is also the scorn of hipsters and the topic of many jokes by the media. This new development is not going to help. The London-based firm This Place has come up with a way to control Google Glass with your mind. That was not a typo. You can control a digital device with just your brainwaves. This works well for Google Glass since you can get instant visual feedback to see if your command is being recognized. The application they created is called MindRDR.
However you will need more than just the app. You will also need to buy a Neurosky’s EEG biosensor headset to accompany the app. The Neurosky’s EEG biosensor Mindwave Mobile safely measures and transfers the power spectrum (alpha waves, beta waves, etc) data via Bluetooth to wirelessly communicate with your computer, iOS, Android device or in this case your Google Glass. This headset is able to see your brainwaves change in real time. The Mindwave Mobile is more than a headset. You also get an ear-clip, and a sensor arm. The headset’s reference and ground electrodes are on the ear clip, while the EEG electrode is on the sensor arm, resting on the forehead above the eye. The Neurosky’s Mindwave Mobile is priced $199 but you can find it cheaper if you look in the right places.
There are more than 100 brain training games, educational apps, and development tools available through the NeuroSky, iOS, and Android stores. You can also write your own programs to interact with MindWave Mobile by using the free developer tools. It is these free tools that the London-based firm This Place used to create MindRDR. Luckily the app is free and open source. MindRDR reads your brainwaves and explains to the Google Glass what you want to happen. The executable commands are sent to Google Glass. Don’t get too excited. You can not do much with the app. For now the most you can do is take pictures and upload them to either Facebook or Twitter. In the future this could help people with special needs.