A graduate of North Carolina State University has taken the idea of player as controller a step further.
Brian Kaminski, of Advancer Technologies, hooked up electrodes to his arms, so when he flexes or twitches, he can control his Super Mario Brothers. A YouTube demonstration video got hundreds of thousands of views.
“What I’m doing is hooking up the electrodes to the different muscle groups I want to control the game,” he said.
The sensors measures electrical activity in his muscles and send a signal to a keyboard. Each movement corresponds to a key.
“When I flex my bicep, it does arrow-right. When I flex my forearm it does either X or Z,” Kaminski said.
Advancer Technologies’ breakthrough could make videogames even more interactive, but the biggest benefit could be in physical therapy. Kaminski hopes his creation can help renew the connection between the mind and the muscles in injured people.
In the short term, he has packaged his work into a $25 starter kit that he plans to market to young technology wanna-bes. “They’re small, cheap and easily integrated into microcontrollers so students can put them into projects,” he said.
