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Control Games With Your Brain

by Rainier on Sept. 26, 2005 @ 8:20 a.m. PDT

CyberLearning Technology today launched SMART BrainGames, brain-powered video game peripherals that experts say could transform the videogame industry. The company is the sole licensee of unique technology developed, proven and patented by NASA and originally used for pilot training.

When connected to a Sony PlayStation, SMART BrainGames allows players to use their brainpower to make hundreds of off-the-shelf videogames much more compelling -- adding a whole new level of challenge and entertainment. Players report feeling they really are the game character, or that they are actually sitting in the driver's seat of a race car. After experiencing the exhilaration of "brainplay," game players say they don't want to go back to regular game play.

With regular use, players are able to focus their attention faster and concentrate deeper and longer. These acquired skills have been known to last several years. CyberLearning's mission is to significantly improve children and adult's learning capacity. The technology has been used for several years in private clinics with dramatic results, and is now available directly in schools and homes, using programs designed to help raise kids' performance in the classroom.

Using popular titles such as Gran Tourismo, Need For Speed, and Tony Hawk, the SMART BrainGames system rewards players who are able to focus attention and concentrate quickly, calmly and deeply. The system monitors brain activity continuously during gameplay using electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. The faster you get focused, and the longer you stay focused, the better your performance. If you feel anxious or lose concentration, performance declines. Players are strongly motivated to learn how to achieve calm focus in order to stay competitive and improve game results. The skills acquired during game play can be used in life and in learning situations, and parents and teachers often report dramatic improvements in behavior and ability to follow instructions.

SMART BrainGames is based on Clinical EEG Neurofeedback, the long-established and safe use of EEG signals to accurately measure brainwave activity through sensors that are comfortably placed on the head. The brainwave activity, monitored and fed back to the player using visual and auditory signals, becomes the means of exercising the brain -- "a gym for your brain."

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