With Google Glass starting its slow rollout into the wild, the idea of being able to capture anything anywhere anytime is becoming increasingly accessible. Not to say that it isn’t already with the ubiquity of cellphone cameras, but there’s something to be said about “always-ready” gear; sometimes that moment is gone by the time you whip out your phone. Well, the Neurocam being developed by the Tokyo-based Neurowear team constantly scans your brain waves and assigns them activity levels from 1 to 100. Then, when the detected levels exceed 60, it takes a 5 second GIF of whatever is in its line of sight. No need to press a trigger, or fumble around with your phone’s controls as Big Foot makes his escape yet again. If or when this ends up working right, it’ll be amazing. For now however what you have is an unwieldy prototype which uses a cradled iPhone as the camera. There are plans to change that, obviously. Also, there are questions about whether their tech actually works:
The analytics algorithm is based on the sensitivity vales of “interest” and “like” developed by Professor Mitsukura of Keio University and was co-developed with the neurowear team especially for the neurocam. The hardware is a combination of Neurosky’s Mind Wave Mobile and a new customized brainwave sensor with the newest BMD chip.
The team is behind other mind-controlled products like the “Necomimi and Shippo – moving, wearable, mind-controlled cat ears and a tail, respectively”, so it’s not like they’re new to the field. There is no word on eventual commercialization or project readiness, but we’re confident this kind of technology will eventually make it into the hands of consumers, from these guys or someone else.
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So now you don’t even have to say “Ok Glass! Take a picture…”