How VR Could Tap Into Your Brain

"Your next virtual reality (VR) headset could interface with your brain.

Varjo is bringing a neural interface to its latest VR headset. The device packs a variety of sensors to measure data from the user's brain, eyes, heart, skin, and muscles and is intended to research how VR can augment human thinking.

"Researchers and enterprise companies leveraging the combo of neurotechnology and VR opens up a host of new and rich data that will allow developers to have a greater understanding of how an individual reacts to virtual worlds and experiences in real-time," Tristan Cotter, GM, Americas of Varjo, told Lifewire in an email interview. "The key to this is that with VR, you're able to immerse users into any virtual environment or scenario."

Reading Your Mind
Varjo is teaming up with OpenBCI to produce the Galea, a hardware and software platform that combines brain-computer interface (BCI) tech with extended reality (XR) headsets. In July, sales will open to the public, but the price has not yet been announced.

Conor Russomanno, CEO of OpenBCI, said in an email to Lifewire that virtual reality and augmented reality have been attracting attention from scientific researchers from many fields. The scientists use the headsets to collect data and run experiments in more realistic settings while still maintaining tight control over stimuli and environments.

"For neuroscience especially, the notion of a "closed-loop" system, where the stimuli being delivered can be modified in real-time based on the physiological reactions of the subject, represents a dramatic departure from the traditional one-way, "stimulate and record" methods traditionally employed," he added...." Lire la suite