Mental revolution?
The public perception of BCI remains a challenge given concerns about the technology’s potentially
unethical uses, with many perceiving it as a “mind reading” technology. However, inspired by changes in
the collective mindset that accompanied several technological breakthroughs, such as the Internet, through
good science, it should be possible to promote BCI for applications like videogames and virtual worlds.
The recent large-scale deployment of gesture-based interaction via Nintendo’s Wii console offers a good
example of how an interface has changed the market and the way of playing and designing videogames.
This shift might be driven either by the technology’s outstanding devices or through highly novel
applications. In any case, explaining to the general audience the scope of what BCI can realistically be used
to accomplish and the limitations of its use will require a great deal of effort.