14 DAY TRIAL // During the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympic Games, to be held in Vancouver, Canada, InteraXon will be promoting its Bright Ideas project. This is the largest thought-controlled computing installation ever created, spanning more than 3,000 kilometers across the country. Light displays on Toronto’s CN Tower, Ottawa’s Parliament Buildings, and Niagara Falls will be entirely controlled by people’s thoughts, the company announces; and this is something that has never been attempted before.
“The McGuinty Government is excited to have InteraXon participate at Ontario House during the 2010 Olympic Games. This unique attraction showcases three of our tourism icons in an innovative, exciting and interactive way,” the Ontario Minister of Tourism and Culture, Michael Chan, says of the upcoming event. “Imagine controlling anything without the touch of a button – expanding your ability to change the world beyond your physical self. It gives you a sense of the potential of the technology we are bringing into everyday life,” adds Ariel Garten, the CEO of InteraXon.
Experts explain that the company's system is based on measuring and recording the electrical activity taking place in the human brain, and then reacting to the alpha waves contained within. These brain waves are usually associated with relaxation. Additionally, the system will also take under consideration the activity of beta waves, which have been in scientific studies linked to concentration. Hooked up to the machine, the people who will get a chance to climb on the control chair will transmit their electrical activity patterns over the Internet, to certain websites. Specialized InteraXon software will then connect the signals to lighting controls to change the display on the landmark site.
This will result in a thought-generated light show that will be visible to residents in Toronto, Ottawa and Niagara Falls. The event will also be broadcast on massive screens in Ontario House during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. “We’re working to bring thought-controlled computing out of research labs and into the mainstream. InteraXon helps companies looking to engage in the exploding thought controlled computing market develop their own brainwave-controlled products and services,” says Trevor Coleman, COO. “As the technology gets smaller, more precise, and less expensive there’s no limit to the kinds of things we can control with our minds. We can fit a demonstration into a briefcase and take it to your office,” concludes Chris Aimone, the chief technical officer at InteraXon.