NeuroSky Necomimi Brainwave Cat Ears

By Will Greenwald

Computers that can read our every thought are still a long way off, but a few sensors and some circuitry can let some devices read some measure of our brain activity. Last year, I tested the Mattel MindFlex Duel ?, which let me lift and lower a floating ball with my mind as I moved it through a track. The ball floated because of a fan and I moved it back and forth with a dial, but it still read my brain activity and adjusted how hard the fan blew based on my concentration. The NeuroSky Necomimi are electronic cat ears (in Japanese, Neco means cat, and mimi means ear) with motors and sensors that make the ears move based on your brain activity, but at $99.95 (direct) they're an expensive novelty. Even still, it's safe to say that if you pick up a pair, you'll be the first of your friends to own brain-reading robot cat ears.

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Design
The Necomimi ears consist of a pair of fuzzy, plush cat ears and a headband. The ears fit securely on two large, rectangular blocks on the headband, and because they're removable you can potentially replace them with, say, horns, antennae, or something else. The blocks are mounted on motorized pads, letting the ears move up and down in response to your brain activity. That activity is measured by a sensor that presses against your forehead and a pair of sensors that clip onto your left ear. Both connect to a long box on the left side of the headband with a Power button and a compartment that holds four AAA batteries.

The headband is relatively comfortable and easily adjustable, but it can take a few minutes to get used to its 7.2-ounce frame. It mostly stays on with two pads on the sides and an elastic strap in the back to keep it stable, but the pressure of the pads and the sensor on the forehead can feel strange at first. The motors in the ears produce a gentle buzzing that can feel either vaguely therapeutic or irritating, depending on your mood and the sensitivity of your head.

Brain Reading
The Necomimi ears use NeuroSky's Attention and Meditation algorithms to measure your brain activity and make the ears respond. In practice, it just means the ears will occasionally move faster and perk up when you're focused and concentrating and droop when you're relaxed. Even then, it's a very erratic system that won't necessarily directly respond to your thoughts or moods. With practice you can get the ears to droop by relaxing, but otherwise it's a passive interaction. It's less precise than Mattel's Mindflex Duo game, because instead of the ears moving directly in response to your brain activity, it only activates certain specific animations of the ears, like perking up, drooping down, and wiggling a set number of times at specific speeds. I found that I could make the ears perk up by going through multiplication tables in my head and make them droop by meditating, but that's all the conscious control I had over them.

It's hard to judge these ears based on performance, because there's really nothing quite like them. It's a unique tech toy that does what it claims to do (if you give the brain sensing the benefit of the doubt), but it doesn't do much else for your $100. But between the cosplay appeal and the high-tech gimmick, they might appeal to nerds who want something unique to play with.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/pV_y8tTpMz4/0,2817,2408700,00.asp

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