意念控制的电子游戏成为现实

Picture this: You put on a headset and relax your mind. Soon you begin controlling an object with your thoughts.

想象一下这个场景：你戴上耳机，放松精神，然后很快你就可以用意念控制一个物体。

This mind-power trick may seem far-fetched, like something from a late-night science fiction movie or the back of an old comic book. But several companies are bringing this technology to life with affordable headsets that determine a person's state of mind.

这种意念把戏看上去也许不可信，好像是深夜科幻电影或者旧喜剧小说故事里的场景。但是几家公司正在让这种技术变成现实，它们推出的耳机可以测定人的精神状态。

The gadgets translate brain waves into digital information and beam it wirelessly to computers or other devices.

Brian L. Frank for The Wall Street Journal戴上神念科技的耳机，玩家可以用意念控制真实和虚拟的物体。这种小玩意儿可以把脑电波转变成数字信息，然后通过无线方式将数字信息发送到电脑或其它设备。

So far the headsets are confined to mostly digital interfaces videogames and movies whose plots can be altered with the mind-although in some cases real-world objects have been used, like a pair of catlike ears that move depending on a person's mood. The technology, still in its infancy, has the potential to not only entertain but to possibly improve education and strengthen mental health, some doctors say.

迄今为止，这种耳机的应用主要局限在数字界面领域──电子游戏以及情节可以随思维变动而改变的电影──有时候也使用了现实世界中的东西，比如一对像猫耳朵那样可以随人的情绪变化而翻动的耳朵。一些医生表示，尚在起步阶段的这项技术不仅可望为人提供消遣，而且很有可能会提高教学质量以及增进精神健康。

Behind much of the technology is San Jose-based NeuroSky Inc., which first made a splash in 2009 when toy maker Uncle Milton Inc. used its headset for the Star Wars Force Trainer toy that let youngsters suspend a ball inside a tube. As the child concentrated, a fan would spin and blow the ping-pong ball upward.

这项技术背后的主要推手是总部设在圣何塞的神念科技有限公司（NeuroSky Inc.），该公司2009年因玩具制造商Uncle Milton公司在"星球大战原力训练器"（Star Wars Force Trainer）玩具中使用了它的耳机而名噪一时。那是一款让圆管里的小球飘起来的玩具，当小朋友聚精会神之时，内置的风扇会转动起来，把小球向上吹。

The novelty toy was more than a "gee-whiz" moment. It was the first time consumers could see brain waves translated into specific commands in the physical world. And it didn't make use of skull implants, which for years have enabled patients to control prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs.

这款新颍的玩具不止让人发出"哎哟喂"这样的感叹，而且让消费者第一次看到了脑电波被转换成物质世界的具体指令。而它并没有使用那种多年来让病人可以控制假肢和轮椅的颅内植入术。

Now,about 1,700 software developers are working with NeuroSky's technology, with the majority of them making mind-controlled computer games for the company's $129 MindWave Mobile headset, NeuroSky Chief executive Stanley Yang. He said the company is nearing profitability but declined to provide revenue numbers.

神念科技公司首席行政长斯坦利·杨（Stanley Yang）说，现在，大约有1700家软件开发商在使用神念科技公司的技术，它们中大多数都是为了用上该公司价值129美元的MindWave Mobile耳机而制作用意念控制的电脑游戏。他说公司离盈利已经不远了，但他拒绝透露公司的收入数据。

Among the offerings available in the company's app store are desktop games like "MindHunter," in which players must focus single-mindedly in order to fire a weapon, and meditation aids like 'Mind Labyrinth,' which grants players access to 52 different levels of an ancient temple as their relaxation grows deeper. Most of the games cost between $5 and $20, but other offerings - like the "HocusFocus" attention-building game, billed as a serious educational tool - can cost as much as $150.

该公司的软件商店销售诸如"MindHunter"这样的桌面游戏，玩家必须聚精会神才能激发武器。店里还有"Mind Labyrinth"这样的定神冥思辅助工具，它可以随玩家放松程度的提升，授权他们进入一座有52个不同级别之分的寺庙。这些游戏大多售价五至20美元。其他销售的软件──比如以教育工具性质而定价的凝神练习游戏"HocusFocus"──售价可能高达150美元。

"There is going to be a whole ecosystem of new players, and NeuroSky is very well-positioned to be like the Intel of this new industry," said Alvaro Fernandez, chief executive of SharpBrains, a brain-fitness analyst and consultancy. "They are to be inside a lot of what's going on."

脑健康分析咨询机构SharpBrains公司的首席行政长阿尔瓦罗·费尔南德斯（Alvaro Fernandez）说，"将会形成一个新玩家的完整的生态体系，而神念科技就好比这个新兴产业领域中的英特尔公司（Intel），占据了极佳的位置。对于正在发生的一切，他们会了如指掌。"

London-based MyndPlay Ltd. is using NeuroSky chips inside its own headset to enable viewers to control the outcome of movie scenes by concentrating and relaxing. The company has a production studio that makes short films with alternate plot lines and endings.

总部设在伦敦的MyndPlay有限公司在其耳机里使用了神念科技的芯片，以使观众可以通过集中精力和放松精神来控制电影里的场景效果。这家公司拥有一家电影制片厂，制作故事情节和结局可随观众状态而变的电影短片。

In addition to being a novel twist on the moviegoing experience, the technology has implications in behavior modification, Chief Executive Tre Azam said. Two prisons in England, for example, show inmates a gangster-themed film from MyndPlay that teaches them to stay calm during threatening situations.

MyndPlay公司首席行政长特里·阿桑（Tre Azam）说，除了给电影观赏带来新奇体验之外，这项技术在行为矫正方面也能发挥作用。比如，英国的两所监狱给犯人放映了MyndPlay公司的电影，教他们在遭遇威胁时保持冷静。

NeuroSky faces competition from San Francisco-based start-up Emotiv Systems Inc,which offers a $300 multi-sensor headset. Emotiv sells a variety of software including a package of popular games like "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft" that are optimized for the company's headset, as well as a program designed to let users control a computer with thoughts instead of a mouse or keyboard.

Brian L. Frank for The Wall Street Journal在神念科技位于旧金山的办公室，神念科技的渠道销售总监David Chung正在测试耳 。神念科技公司面临着总部位于旧金山的初创企业Emotiv Systems Inc.的竞争。Emotiv公司的多传感器耳机售价300美元。该公司还销售各种软件，包括一套包含热门游戏"使命召唤"（Call of Duty）和"魔兽世界"（World of Warcraft）的游戏包，里面的游戏都为配合该公司的耳机进行了优化。该公司销售的另一个程序可以让用户用意念而不是鼠标或键盘来控制电脑。

Emotiv is profitable, said a spokeswoman, declining to provide specific figures.

一位发言人说，Emotiv是一家盈利的公司，但是她拒绝提供具体的数据。

All of the companies vying to emerge in the brain-wave market are using electroencephalograph, or EEG, technology, which measures the brain's electrical impulses in the forehead and has long been used to diagnose epilepsy and other brain disorders. The headsets contain a sensor that detects various mental states, and a chip converts the signals from analog format to digital so they can travel wirelessly to a computer.

所有力争在脑电波技术市场占有一席之地的公司都在使用脑电图（EEG）技术。这种测量前额电脉冲的技术早已被应用于癫痫和其它大脑功能紊乱的治疗。这类耳机里面的一个传感器可以侦测各种脑部状态，一个芯片可以将模拟信号转换成数字信号，这样，信号可以通过无线的方式传送到电脑。

The technology is still limiting, however, tracking mostly the brain's ability to concentrate and relax but not specific, purposeful actions. Some players of mind games might be underwhelmed that they don't have total control in the same way they could with a joystick.

但是这种技术可以追踪大脑注意力是集中了还是放松了，而无法追踪具体的、有目的的行动，一些意念游戏玩家在发现他们不能像用游戏手柄那样可以完全控制游戏时可能会感到索然无趣。

But some doctors believe mind-controlled games can provide more than fun and relaxation, by improving mental health. Psychiatrists have long trained the brain's pre-frontal cortex to fight against acute conditions like anxiety, post-traumatic stress and attention-deficit disorder. Practices like meditation, exercise, and cognitive therapy have shown comparable short-term efficacy to medication.

但是有些医生认为，由于意念控制游戏可以改善心理健康，它给人带来的不仅是娱乐和放松。精神病学家早就开始训练前额叶皮层抗击像焦虑、创伤后压力和注意力缺陷障碍这些严重病情。做做冥思、锻炼和认知疗法，其短期疗效可以和药物治疗相差无几。

What if a person could derive the same kind of benefit from a mind-controlled videogame? The attention and focus required to control a game with the mind has the benefit of calming the mind, said game designer Jane McGonigal. Her game studio, SuperBetterLabs Inc,is attempting to introduce cognitive therapy into games optimized for NeuroSky and Emotive headsets.

假使一个人可以从用意念控制的电子游戏中获得类似的好处，情况会怎么样？游戏设计师简·麦克高尼格（Jane McGonigal）说，用意念控制游戏所要求的注意力集中可以让心神平静。她的游戏工作室SuperBetterLabs Inc.正试图将认知疗法引入为配合神念科技和Emotiv的耳机而优化的游戏。

Michael Brody, a psychiatrist who teaches at the University of Maryland, cautions that mind-controlled games are useful only if they move beyond the novelty stage and become a standard part of patients' mental health regimens. "Don't hold your breath for the silver bullet," said Dr. Brody, who has studied the effects of various media on the brain for the past 40 years.

马里兰大学（University of Maryland）的精神病学家迈克尔·布罗迪（Michael Brody）提醒说，意念控制游戏只有在走出初尝阶段，成为病人心理健康疗法标准化的组成部分之后才会发挥作用。布罗迪博士说，"不要以为这肯定是一个绝妙的良方。"他在过去40年里一直在研究各种介质对大脑的影响。

Other developers are taking a more whimsical approach. Among the various toys and gadgets that run on mind control is the NecoMiMi headset, a fashion accessory that has taken fans of Japanese anime by storm.

其它公司的研发途径更是奇异无常。在各种使用意念控制的玩具中，有一种NecoMiMi耳机，作为一种时尚配件，这种耳机在日本动画迷中大受欢迎。

Built by NeuroSky and a Japanese partner, NecoMiMi is a set of catlike ears that perk up when the wearer's concentration intensifies, and flatten out when relaxed. A YouTube promotional video that has received more than 2 million views suggests it could provide a way for young people to express romantic interest.

NecoMiMi耳机由神念科技公司和它的日本合作者共同制造，类似猫耳，当佩戴耳机的人精力集中时，猫耳会竖立起来，精神放松时则会平倒下去。一段点击次数超过200万的YouTube宣传视频宣称，这种耳机可以为年轻人提供一种表达爱意的方式。