Eye Controlled Earphones

The Japanese wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo has recently developed and demonstrated a peculiar pair of headphones that can precisely detect a user's eye movements without a camera, and use those movements to control electronic devices such as mobile phones and portable music players.

DoCoMo started working on this idea back in 2008 by adapting an electrooculogram (EOG), a medical device used for measuring eye response, to their purposes. An EOG works on the principle that the human cornea has a positive electrical charge. As the user looks to the left or right, the charge shifts in the space between the user's ears – a change that can be easily detected by appropriate sensors.

When, two years back, the company first announced its work on this technology, the end product was a very bulky and unappealing pair of headphones. Now, however, DoCoMo has managed to shrink all of the necessary parts into an ordinary-looking pair of earphones, making the product much more attractive to the masses. As demonstrated in the video below, users can simply move their eyes from right to left to pause music, twice to the right to skip a song, roll their eyes clockwise to raise the volume, and so on.

Of course, the same technology could be easily adapted to control a mobile phone or, for that matter, a number of other electronic devices. But the question remains as to how users would be able to prevent regular eye movements from being interpreted as commands. There is no mention from the company of a locking command to prevent casual glances from being registered, which means you'd have to be careful where you look at any given time. It's also clear that this technology would be too dangerous as a hands-free driving solution, as it would require you to constantly take your eyes off the road.

A third, perhaps less serious concern, is that you may get a few stares from the people around you as you start shifting and rolling your eyes for no apparent reason. But at least this concern has an easy solution – according to the company, the earphones can pick up inputs even when your eyes are closed.

DoCoMo says it doesn't yet have plans to get the technology into the market, perhaps in order to get these and other minor problems sorted first. One thing's for certain, though: should the company find a solution to these issues, particularly how to intelligently sort out the commands from the normal glances without laying the burden on the user, it would make for one of the most futuristic sets of controls yet.

Goodbye touchscreen? XWave brainwave interface for iDevices unveiled

Until humans evolve huge brains like the Talosians, it seems we’ll have to rely electronic headwear to allow us to control devices with our brainwaves – electronic headwear like the XWave from California-based company PLX Devices. The XWave is the first brainwave interface accessory for the iPhone/iPod touch/iPad that is worn over the head like a pair of headphones. Unfortunately, the device won’t allow you to scroll through playlists or select a contact to call with the power of your mind. Rather, like the Star Wars Force Trainer, it detects your attention and meditation levels for use in games and getting the old gray matter into shape.

The XWave is powered by technology provided by Neurosky Inc. and the device itself is not dissimilar to that company’s MindSet headset we first saw at the Tokyo Game Show back in 2008. Like the MindSet, the XWave incorporates a single electrode that sits in contact with the wearer’s forehead to read brainwave information, or electroencephalography (EEG) data, and converts these analog signals into digital so they can be used

The device comes bundled with the XWave app that includes a number of exercises aimed at training your brain. Objectives include levitating a ball on the iDevice’s screen, changing a color based on the relaxation level of your brain and training your brain to maximize its attention span.

PLX Devices is also providing 3rd party software developers an SDK to allow them to design and develop apps using the XWave device. The company reports that some apps already in development include games in which objects are controlled by the wearer’s mind and another that allows the wearer to control the lights in their home or select music based on their mood.

The XWave will be available for preorder from PLX Devices now for US$100 ahead of an October 2010 release.

Laser Projector for Smart Phones

The development of a tiny new video projector has recently been announced by Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) via its spin-off company, Lemoptix. The projector is said to be smaller in area than a credit card, with a projection head measuring one cubic centimeter. Developers of the device foresee it becoming commercially available in smartphones, laptops and digital cameras, with industrial applications including possible use in operating rooms.

The projector’s micro electro-mechanical (MEM) system incorporates a tiny mirror, less than a millimeter thick. It is mounted on a silicon disc, where it reflects red, green and blue laser beams. The mirror oscillates rapidly, allowing the three combined laser beams to scan a projection surface up to 20,000 times a second.

Last month, the Lemoptix team had their first success in using the device to project a VGA (640 x 480) image. It can project from a minimum distance of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches), producing an image equivalent in size to a 15-inch (38 cm.) screen. Larger screen sizes are achieved simply by moving the projector farther back from the projection surface, which will not require the user to refocus the image.

Not only is the projector small, but the developers claim it uses 30 percent less electricity than the mirror matrix- or LED-based technology which is currently in use. This, they explain, is due to the highly-focused laser light source, the highly-reflective mirror, and the fact that less optical processing is required. It is also claimed that the components should be easy and inexpensive to produce in large batches, as existing semiconductor-manufacturing technology could be used.

Lemoptix sees the device being incorporated into consumer electronics by 2012. By the end of next year, however, they plan on it being available for industrial clients. One such client could be automakers, who would use it for heads-up displays, in which driving information is projected onto the inside of a car’s windshield. Another client could be medical technology companies, who would use it in operating rooms to project patient information directly onto the patient’s body, saving surgeons from having to look up at screens.

An interactive display, where users could manipulate the image by touching it, is also in the works.