NeuroSky

At CASPA's Career Development Seminar I was able to hear Stanley Yang's story about NeuroSky. The company started in 2004 and around 5 years and $5 million later they are ready to launch by selling their sensors to their customers. NeuroSky makes a sensor that can read brainwaves. The technology evolved from being implemented as a $300+ board to a <$5 single chip. At the seminar he showed videos of people controlling toys such as RC cars and video games solely by using the headset device with the dry sensor. In the past sensors had to be implanted inside the head or use contact gels to read the brainwaves accurately. Unlike competitors such as Emotiv Systems, NeuroSky does not sell products themselves and allows customers to set specs and pricing.

So far the announced toys and video games only use the device to measure concentration levels. It will be interesting to see if the technology really works and if it's mature enough for the mass market or too simple for people to get really excited about.