As the world comes to grips with the innovative Wiimote control for the Nintendo Wii, Sega is hoping to take toys to a whole new level by turning your brain into the remote control.
The company is teaming up with NeuroSky, makers of a low cost bio-sensor and signal processing system [yes, that thing on her head], to create some toys that you will control with your mind.
NeuroSky has been demonstrating this tech for a while now, allowing people to use the headset to move and manipulate objects in a special game using thought-power and a targeting cursor. Mind-controlled toys will be a big leap for the technology. If they work properly, that is.
"Sega Toys is taking play to the next level, and we at NeuroSky are proud to be a part of this break-through in next generation entertainment", comments NeuroSky CEO Stanley Yang. “With our ThinkGear bio-sensor technology and innovative capacity of Sega Toys, our collaboration with Sega Toys will empower consumers to intimately interact with or control a toy, using their mind.”
Kenji Yokozeki, managing director of Sega Toys adds: “We are enthusiastic about the potential we see in developing a unique franchised product line featuring NeuroSky’s technology. At Sega Toys, our priority is to provide customers with value based on new types of play, and NeuroSky provides us with the core technology to meet this challenge.”
Whether this amounts to anything useful remains to be seen but anything that cuts at least one remote control out my life can’t be all bad.
Check out a video of NeuroSky in action after the jump.-Martin Lynch
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People in the UK are unable to switch off their gadgets according to a new survey that highlights the way technology is taking over our lives and causing conflict with our loved ones. Of course, most of you Gizmodo readers know this already.
The survey of 1500 adults by support company, The Geek Squad, discovered that three quarters of us routinely eat the evening meal in front of the PC which often leads to rows. Well, makes a change from rowing over the telly, then.
There is also a growing ‘Always On’ work attitude with one-in-five people admitting to keeping their laptop beside them in the evenings, while almost two-in-five people said they check their work emails from home. Many said the email checking will continue throughout Christmas.
The shift from traditional pastimes like watching the goggle box and spending time with the family is leading to a rise in conflict. The survey found that 38% of women and 45% of husbands and boyfriends claim that the amount of time they spend online in the evenings has led to arguments and stress with family, friends and partners.
A spokesman for the Geek Squad said:"The implication of all this technology in our homes is having a wider impact. The traditional ‘Royle Family’ image of a nation slouching in front of the TV is changing fast - we spend less time in front of the TV and on traditional pastimes than on our computers."
So, now that you know what the problem is, will you change? Probably not. Too much to do online for a start.-Martin Lynch.
gadget PC online home
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I realise that getting anyone to save - especially now when all they want to do is spend – is a tough sell, which is why they might need a little help from the Bomb Bank.
This little fellow is a bank with balls, because if you fail to save on a regular basis, he explodes, sending your coins all over the place. I can only assume that the blast won’t turn the coins into life-threatening bullets, but either way you’ll still have to clean up the mess.
The makers obviously knew that the whole 'exploding' bit would be a real crowd-pleaser, which is why the Bomb Bank comes with a Party Mode, for playing a sudden-death saving game.
Just set how sensitive you want your bank to be (i.e. how many days it will let go by before getting mad), and start saving. If you return to find coins all over your room, you’ll know you need to save more. And an exploding bank is cool, but the fun doesn’t stop there. The Bomb Bank also has a “Party” mode, which is a sudden death type game. After you adjust the sensitivity, each person takes turns putting in a coin. If you are the lucky person who puts in the coin that “explodes” the bank, you win all the coins!
Yours for £18.-Martin Lynch
[Thinkgeek]
gadget money fun
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What do you do if you have a small space that needs a small hi-fi with a big price tag? Talk to audio specialists, NAD. For £325, the diminutive C715 is a mini hi-fi with a hi-spec. It comes with AM/FM radio - or DAB radio with 99 presets for another £100 - and spins various types of CDs.
It also plays back tunes from a USB stick or drive and, more importantly, allows you to transfer CD-based music or DAB tracks to said stick or external hard drive. The C715 supports MP3 and WMA file formats. There is a wide range of connection options including 3 analog stereo inputs, headphones, 1 analog output for hooking up to tape recorders [remember those?], a digital output for digital recorders and a subwoofer input for attaching a self-powered sub.
The unit boasts multi-way speaker binding posts for use with high quality speaker cable and, despite its size, can throw out 25W per stereo speaker. Just remember, speakers are not included. -Martin Lynch
[NAD]
hi-fi MP3 music DAB
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
