By year’s end San Francisco–based Emotiv's sensor-laden EPOC headset will enable gamers to use their own brain activity to interact with the virtual worlds where they play.
The EPOC detects brain activity noninvasively using EEG via external sensors along the scalp that pick up electrical impulses from the cortex (the region of the brain for higher order thoughts.)
EPOC quickly deduces a player's emotional qualities and reacts to it by, for example, changing the music of a game in real-time to match the user's tension or throwing in more villains if a player seems bored.
EPOC will most likely be a hit in games that create hyper-realistic alternative realities, such as Second Life. Where social encounters play a big part of the experience, (rather than tap out a "wink" or "frown" command on a keyboard), players will be able to use their facial expressions to reveal their feelings to other inhabitants.
