No matter what I write about, whether it’s a video game trailer I just watched or a set of photos I really enjoyed, I try and teach you something new, or at least make you use your brain.
Given that most of our readers visit the site during the day, I’m guessing you guys aren’t doing a whole lot of thinking at work…
But today I just want to show you something that I find pretty awesome. That’s it… I just think it’s very cool. What you’re about to watch is a real-time brain visualization in Unity3D using EEG data. It’s a bit of science mixed with the power of video game engines, so it’s worth watching for the novelty factor alone.
Check this out…
Here’s a slightly more in-depth synopsis of what you just watched:
This is an anatomically-realistic 3D brain visualization depicting real-time source-localized activity (power and “effective” connectivity) from EEG (electroencephalographic) signals. Each color represents source power and connectivity in a different frequency band (theta, alpha, beta, gamma) and the golden lines are white matter anatomical fiber tracts. Estimated information transfer between brain regions is visualized as pulses of light flowing along the fiber tracts connecting the regions.
And you’ll find a lot more information about the project here.
The Future of Inexpensive Real-Time Brain Visualization
Now, remember how I said I just wanted to show you something cool? Yeah, turns out I’ve got a bit more to say, so stick around a moment and let’s chat.
So imagine for a moment that you could do this from the comfort of your own home. You could wear this ugly cap around the house, and see a real-time brain visualization on a screen. As just a gimmick, it’s pretty neat. But think about more practical implications for a moment here.
When we cut ourselves, we can easily see topical damage and either slap a bandage on or get stitches to speed up the healing process. Not so with our brain, at least not traditionally, and not for a price that an average person could afford. That’s a shame, because it means that our brain is a black box. But if we had technology like this? Well, I believe that perhaps we could use it to increase our sense of well being, or not react so harshly to criticism, or not stay angry for so long.
I think that would be a pretty powerful tool, and I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter. Perhaps this technology already exists and I just don’t know about it. After all, to borrow an oft butchered quote from William Gibson, the future is here, it’s just not widely distributed yet.
