意念控制的電子遊戲成爲現實

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

想象一下這個場景：你戴上耳機，放鬆精神，然後很快你就可以用意念控制一個物體。

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.

這種意念把戲看上去也許不可信，好像是深夜科幻電影或者舊喜劇小說故事裏的場景。但是幾家公司正在讓這種技術變成現實，它們推出的耳機可以測定人的精神狀態。

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戴上神念科技的耳機，玩家可以用意念控制真實和虛擬的物體。這種小玩意兒可以把腦電波轉變成數字信息，然後通過無線方式將數字信息發送到電腦或其它設備。

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.

迄今爲止，這種耳機的應用主要侷限在數字界面領域──電子遊戲以及情節可以隨思維變動而改變的電影──有時候也使用了現實世界中的東西，比如一對像貓耳朵那樣可以隨人的情緒變化而翻動的耳朵。一些醫生表示，尚在起步階段的這項技術不僅可望爲人提供消遣，而且很有可能會提高教學質量以及增進精神健康。

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.

這項技術背後的主要推手是總部設在聖何塞的神念科技有限公司（NeuroSky Inc.），該公司2009年因玩具製造商Uncle Milton公司在"星球大戰原力訓練器"（Star Wars Force Trainer）玩具中使用了它的耳機而名噪一時。那是一款讓圓管裏的小球飄起來的玩具，當小朋友聚精會神之時，內置的風扇會轉動起來，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.

這款新潁的玩具不止讓人發出"哎喲喂"這樣的感嘆，而且讓消費者第一次看到了腦電波被轉換成物質世界的具體指令。而它並沒有使用那種多年來讓病人可以控制假肢和輪椅的顱內植入術。

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長斯坦利·楊（Stanley Yang）說，現在，大約有1700家軟件開發商在使用神念科技公司的技術，它們中大多數都是爲了用上該公司價值129美元的MindWave Mobile耳機而製作用意念控制的電腦遊戲。他說公司離盈利已經不遠了，但他拒絕透露公司的收入數據。

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.

該公司的軟件商店銷售諸如"MindHunter"這樣的桌面遊戲，玩家必須聚精會神才能激發武器。店裏還有"Mind Labyrinth"這樣的定神冥思輔助工具，它可以隨玩家放鬆程度的提升，授權他們進入一座有52個不同級別之分的寺廟。這些遊戲大多售價五至20美元。其他銷售的軟件──比如以教育工具性質而定價的凝神練習遊戲"HocusFocus"──售價可能高達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."

腦健康分析諮詢機構SharpBrains公司的首席行政長阿爾瓦羅·費爾南德斯（Alvaro Fernandez）說，"將會形成一個新玩家的完整的生態體系，而神念科技就好比這個新興產業領域中的英特爾公司（Intel），佔據了極佳的位置。對於正在發生的一切，他們會了如指掌。"

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.

總部設在倫敦的MyndPlay有限公司在其耳機裏使用了神念科技的芯片，以使觀衆可以通過集中精力和放鬆精神來控制電影裏的場景效果。這家公司擁有一家電影製片廠，製作故事情節和結局可隨觀衆狀態而變的電影短片。

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公司首席行政長特里·阿桑（Tre Azam）說，除了給電影觀賞帶來新奇體驗之外，這項技術在行爲矯正方面也能發揮作用。比如，英國的兩所監獄給犯人放映了MyndPlay公司的電影，教他們在遭遇威脅時保持冷靜。

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在神念科技位於舊金山的辦公室，神念科技的渠道銷售總監David Chung正在測試耳 。神念科技公司面臨着總部位於舊金山的初創企業Emotiv Systems Inc.的競爭。Emotiv公司的多傳感器耳機售價300美元。該公司還銷售各種軟件，包括一套包含熱門遊戲"使命召喚"（Call of Duty）和"魔獸世界"（World of Warcraft）的遊戲包，裏面的遊戲都爲配合該公司的耳機進行了優化。該公司銷售的另一個程序可以讓用戶用意念而不是鼠標或鍵盤來控制電腦。

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

一位發言人說，Emotiv是一家盈利的公司，但是她拒絕提供具體的數據。

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.

所有力爭在腦電波技術市場佔有一席之地的公司都在使用腦電圖（EEG）技術。這種測量前額電脈衝的技術早已被應用於癲癇和其它大腦功能紊亂的治療。這類耳機裏面的一個傳感器可以偵測各種腦部狀態，一個芯片可以將模擬信號轉換成數字信號，這樣，信號可以通過無線的方式傳送到電腦。

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.

但是這種技術可以追蹤大腦注意力是集中了還是放鬆了，而無法追蹤具體的、有目的的行動，一些意念遊戲玩家在發現他們不能像用遊戲手柄那樣可以完全控制遊戲時可能會感到索然無趣。

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.

但是有些醫生認爲，由於意念控制遊戲可以改善心理健康，它給人帶來的不僅是娛樂和放鬆。精神病學家早就開始訓練前額葉皮層抗擊像焦慮、創傷後壓力和注意力缺陷障礙這些嚴重病情。做做冥思、鍛鍊和認知療法，其短期療效可以和藥物治療相差無幾。

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.

假使一個人可以從用意念控制的電子遊戲中獲得類似的好處，情況會怎麼樣？遊戲設計師簡·麥克高尼格（Jane McGonigal）說，用意念控制遊戲所要求的注意力集中可以讓心神平靜。她的遊戲工作室SuperBetterLabs Inc.正試圖將認知療法引入爲配合神念科技和Emotiv的耳機而優化的遊戲。

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.

馬里蘭大學（University of Maryland）的精神病學家邁克爾·布羅迪（Michael Brody）提醒說，意念控制遊戲只有在走出初嘗階段，成爲病人心理健康療法標準化的組成部分之後纔會發揮作用。布羅迪博士說，"不要以爲這肯定是一個絕妙的良方。"他在過去40年裏一直在研究各種介質對大腦的影響。

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.

其它公司的研發途徑更是奇異無常。在各種使用意念控制的玩具中，有一種NecoMiMi耳機，作爲一種時尚配件，這種耳機在日本動畫迷中大受歡迎。

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耳機由神念科技公司和它的日本合作者共同製造，類似貓耳，當佩戴耳機的人精力集中時，貓耳會豎立起來，精神放鬆時則會平倒下去。一段點擊次數超過200萬的YouTube宣傳視頻宣稱，這種耳機可以爲年輕人提供一種表達愛意的方式。