NOT NECESSARILY NEWS

Free Your Mind

Tired of no one understanding what you want from them? Now there’s a machine that will read your mind and do what you want, the first time. For now, though, it’s all just a game. San Francisco-based Emotiv Systems Inc. has developed a brain-computer interface called Project Epoc that lets players manipulate objects in a gaming console.

The headset detects a player’s thoughts, feelings and expressions by tuning into electric signals produced by the brain.

The computer differentiates among thoughts such as lifting an object or rotating it, detects and mimics a user’s facial expressions and responds to the player’s emotions.

“We are incorporating computer-based activities not only into the way we work, learn and communicate, but also into the way we relax, socialize and entertain ourselves,” says Nam Do, co-founder and CEO of Emotiv Systems. “The next step is to enhance these experiences by making the way we interact with computers more ‘lifelike.’”

Emotiv scientists plan to take mind-reading beyond gaming. They say the technology can be used in interactive television, accessibility design, market research, medicine and security. The company has raised $6.3 million in private funding from investors including Technology Venture Partners, Epicure Capital Partners and Australia’s federal government.

Text 2 Don8

Cricket Communications Inc. is marrying mobile technology and philanthropy with a new program called Text2Care that will allow Cricket customers to make donations to participating charities by simply sending a text message. The convenience of donating by text message allows supporters to act at the moment a charity has top-of-mind awareness and only takes a few seconds to complete the transaction. Donations are charged to the donor’s mobile account so there is no need to communicate credit card information, talk to a representative or send a check. The service is offered in partnership with Mobile Accord Inc., an ASP offering mobile fundraising and constituent contact solutions to the nonprofit sector.

OVERHEARD...

“The next killer app is … ease of use.” AT&T’s COO, Randall Stephenson, in his keynote address at CTIA Wireless 2007.