London-based startup This Place is developing an app that will allow Google Glass wearers to use their thoughts to control their devices.
The app, called MindRDR, connects Google Glass with the Neurosky electroencephalography (EEG) headset and uses the NeuroSky MindWave mobile reader to keep track of brainwaves, which is done with a dermal patch on the forehead, according to Discovery News.
The EEG device is used to detect when the wearer is engaging in high levels of concentration. By focusing hard enough, a white line will begin to rise on the screen of Google Glass, and the user will be able to take a photo of what is shown in front of him/her. Focusing again will trigger the meter to come up again, and the wearer can post the photo online.
"It's pretty cool when you've taken a picture and shared it, just by thinking," Chloe Kirton, creative director of This Place, said in a demo video.
Kirton said the concept of the app is based on the work done by her colleagues, which mainly focuses on user experience and interfaces for larger Internet companies, TechCrunch reported.
"When touchscreens first became mainstream it forced the tech industry to really rethink the user experience," she explained. "Could this become the basis of a new kind of user interface? Could the future be about an interface that disappears altogether?"
Kirton also acknowledged some problems with Google Glass, such as how awkward speaking out loud to the device can be in some situations, as well as the finger tapping and sliding.
"After a while your arm gets tired," she said. "You get Glass elbow. We wanted to think of something that was natural and accessible to everyone."
This Place is looking to use MindRDR for other purposes besides taking photos, which include helping people with physical disabilities and speech impediments, WDIV Detroit reported.
"It became very clear to us that those with disabilities have difficulty interacting with digital devices," said Ben Aldred, company director of This Place.
"We're really excited about releasing this to the world," he added. "To purely use this power of your mind to control an interface - it's the interface of the future."
