XWave for iPhone introduces consumer level personal EEG monitoring

A new application for the iPhone, the XWave, lets you read your own mind via a headset clamped to your head and connected to the phone’s audio jack.

The plastic headband, which costs around $100, has a sensor that presses against the user’s forehead and communicates with a free XWave iPhone application that then shows your brain waves graphically on the iPhone screen. As you focus your mind on a task the graphics are changed -- a ball may move higher for instance, or your state of relaxation may be indicated by changes in a pulsating color, which moves towards blue as you become more relaxed.
Brainwave detection is powered by an NeuroSky eSense dry sensor, which provides a brain-computer interface (BCI) to sense even faint electrical impulses in the brain and convert them to digital signals that are sent to the iPhone. Previous applications of the NeuroSky technology include computer games and toys. In XWave an algorithm is applied to the brain rhythms to convert them to graphical representations of attention and meditation values.

Not sure how well the headset works, but the little brainwave interface for the iPhone sure looks cool.

» more at: www.physorg.com

Posted By jamesk at 2011-01-12 14:32:50 permalink | comments

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Dononamous. : 2011-01-14 07:57:27

Lol

someone. : 2011-01-13 18:56:18

Was that Stuckey or on of his collaborators you saw? I know they did some research on EEG of ayahuasceros. Pretty fascinating stuff. [link]

Seems like these consumer devices then would be limited to some attention training (beta) and some mild relaxation training (alpha) maybe.

Anonymous. : 2011-01-13 13:54:14

I think it would make a difference. The more channels the device has, the more interesting the data collected.

I saw a talk once at a conference where the speaker spoke of EEG studies of ayahuasca drinkers, as contrasted to experienced meditators (in tonglen, IIRC). Interestingly, the common marker appeared to be gamma coherence, but I can see no way that these consumer devices would be able to work with that. I'm not an electrical engineer, but it's my understanding that it's hard to reliably detect and process those faster waves (perhaps because the environment is noisier at those frequencies, which are closer to the frequency of the electrical mains, or perhaps it's hard to get the faster sampling rates with inexpensive equipment). Even given that, though, if coherence is an important attribute of state, you'd need a good, multi-channel device to measure it.

someone. : 2011-01-13 12:37:55

to anonymous - the Emotiv seems to have 14 sensors which are positioned in various places on the scalp, while the XWave has only the single forehead sensor. Do you think this would make a pretty big difference especially in terms of lower frequencies waves? Again, not an expert but I thought that theta and gamma in various regions more towards the back of the head were signals of some of the more deep meditative states. Maybe this device would be adequate for some alpha and beta training though?

Jedi Mind Traveler : 2011-01-13 10:58:53

the real breakthrough comes when you get jacked into the headset and it sends the data signals necessary for a holographic projection of a pizza on the table. You then reach out your hand, and it gives signals of hot, put a piece in your mouth and it sends cheesy and delicious. And yes, those bytes are oh so nutritious.the real breakthrough comes when you get jacked into the headset and it sends the data signals necessary for a holographic projection of a pizza on the table. You then reach out your hand, and it gives signals of hot, put a piece in your mouth and it sends cheesy and delicious. And yes, those bytes are oh so nutritious.

Jedi Mind Traveler : 2011-01-13 08:55:39

Well if it works, wow. There better be lots of apps made for it... like if I could think something and make the volume go up and down, or call someone, or order a pizza.... ok maybe that's pushing it, but that's the direction this crazy world is going isn't it...

Anonymous. : 2011-01-13 07:24:02

I have no knowledge of this device, but consumer-level EEG is at least possible. There is one device, the Emotiv, that does this. I've played around with one with a friend, and it's cleverly designed. I have no idea of the company is viable and survive, though (but my guess is they won't).

As to whether of not such a device can disambiguate muscle tension from true EEG, there have been long discussion about this on the OpenEEG listserv, and I'd have to say yea, it's possible.

jamesk : 2011-01-12 21:31:44

Yes, well EEG does not appear anywhere in their literature, they use the term "brainwave," which is a bit vague. Which is why I wonder about the quality of the headset. Seems like a single-sensor headset is fairly limited in what it can detect.

omgoleus : 2011-01-12 16:30:46

I can't imagine that this is doing anything other than measuring electrical signals from the facial muscles in the forehead. EEG signals are much, much smaller than muscle signals, and as someone said, they mostly show up in other places on the scalp.

someone. : 2011-01-12 15:50:47

Having done some neurofeedback with a professional therapist, I'm wondering if this device is adequate to do the job. In neurofeedback usually electrode sensors are placed at numerous positions on the scalp including several in the back as apparently many meditative states are best represented by particular EEG readings in particular places in the brain. I'm certainly not an expert so I'd like to hear a bit more analysis of how well this product functions. But I've been waiting for do-it-yourself neurofeedback apps for a long, long time so if this works that would be tremendous. Hopefully this is just the first of many consumer market EEG/neurofeedback devices to come.

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XWave for iPhone introduces consumer level personal EEG monitoring

Posted By jamesk at 2011-01-12 14:32:50 permalink | comments

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