The BBC is testing a version of the iPlayer that can be controlled WITH YOUR MIND. Seriously.
In a blog post, the BBC’s Cyrus Saihan explains how the corporation has teamed up with a user-experience company called This Place to create the experimental application.
The way it works is by using an EEG-brainwave reading headset, which then controls a power bar on the side of the screen that responds to how ‘relaxed’ you are. Users are presented with a list of programmes to watch and as the app cycles through shows, changing the highlighted show every 10 seconds, if the user wants to select it to watch they simply have to ‘meditate’ with their mind to lower the power bar. Think of it like the power bar in a golf game.
While impressive, like all consumer-grade brain scanning hardware it isn’t too sophisticated at the moment; it is essentially only able to detect one binary input (hence the need for timed switching between shows). But it does make you think about how even a relatively simple implementation like this could open up the iPlayer to people with more limited mobility.
But don’t expect to be controlling your TV with your mind any time soon as this is just an early prototype — don’t throw away your remote just yet. But it is a fascinating look at where the future could lead.
[BBC]
Picture: BBC
